wedding post challenge 6-8

6. the colors: the colors we picked were completely based off a bouquet i saw in a bridal magazine. Whimsey Floral and Design made the bouquet (they're WAY out of my price range) and the photo is by Rebekah Westover:

I loved the shades of green and the gold/peach orange. 

So... when people asked what colors we picked, I would say "peach and moss"... which is the best way I could describe it.

I was on a paint website and found these colors. They're pretty close to our colors:

here are pictures from our wedding with the bouquet:

7. the dress: my dress was perfect. it was everything i wanted! i was on quite the search to find my perfect dress. trying on dresses was really cool because kelli and i did most of our dress shopping together. we're the same size, so it was fun to try on the same dresses, too. we went to Abella bridal, and I found my dream dress. It was called the "Lark". It was dropped waist, V-neck in front and back, and completely lace. I was in LOVE with that dress. It was about $500 out of my price range and I was pretty crushed. We also went to Alyse's Bridal which was fun, because my friend Kelsey works there and she was my consultant! I didn't expect to really like anything there... but I liked almost every dress I tried on! I found about 3 or 4 dresses there, simliar styles with the dropped waist, and lace details. But I wasn't really set on any of them, and wasn't happy about spending lots of money on a dress i would wear... twice? yeah. not crazy about that. 

my mom told me to just keep looking, and maybe i'd find something. so one day, Kylee and I spent the entire afternoon wedding dress shopping. we went to all the little shops in provo and didn't find anything tasteful. then i remembered i had seen the sign for sweetheart bridal, the shop by the pizza place on bulldog? yeah. we went in, it was kind of my last hope. i wasn't expecting anything.

i immediately found 8 dresses that I LOVED. I was having a hard time choosing, until we finally narrowed it down to 2. 

we had them held and then a few days later i had my mom, kayla, valeri and devin come with me to make a decision. everyone voted for the dropped waist dress except devin, who voted for the princess style dress. i asked him why he liked the other one better, and he said he didn't know. so i put the dropped waist dress back on and he changed his mind.

i spent $500 dollars on my wedding dress. how awesome is that! i had the daughter of a woman in my ward alter it for $25 and she did an incredible job! i had it steamed for $20 the day before the wedding, so all in all... $545 for a wedding dress? that's exactly what i wanted!

and it was absolutely perfect. even better than the lark. 

taffeta

white

dropped waist

trumpet silhouette

sweetheart neckline in front

round in the back

gathered across the waist

pick-ups on the bottom

bust and waist detailed with beaded lace

the waist detailed with the beaded lace was diagonal, like a belt of beaded lace. so pretty.

Devin's suit was from Perfectly Suited in Provo. The owner, Garth has become a great friend! I think his suit is Italian... fancy... I don't know. He loves it. The tie is from the same place. Also fancy.

8. the accessories: 

i didn't have a veil. didn't want a veil.

and i know the birdcage look is a big trend, and i think it works for some people, but i don't like it for me, so I had my amazing sister in law Amanda, of Addison Renee Boutique make me a custom hairpiece.

my earrings were $1.50 from forever 21. i found them on accident looking for rose studs (which i have in pretty much every color). they were absolutely perfect. and my necklace and bracelet are... from icing. hahaha i bought them in the prom section! hahaha i don't wear fancing jewelry, but devin had said that necklaces with details look really good in pictures, so i found a really pretty one, and the bracelet was the same. they worked great! another thing: the only ring i wore was my wedding ring. i don't like it when people wear other rings in their wedding/engagement pictures because it defeats the purpose, haha!

i'm glad i didn't spend money on my jewelry because i know i'll never wear the necklace again. maybe the bracelet and earrings. but still.

my best friend valeri did my hair and make-up for both my bridals and wedding day. it was different both times. on my wedding day, i met her at her salon at like... 6:30 a.m. she was soooo sweet to do this for me! and at the temple, after the sealing, she came with me and my mom to the bride's room to fix my hair and makeup before we went outside to see everyone and take pictures. and she fixed it all again before the reception! she's the best. and a lifesaver.

my shoes? sparkly silver toms, of course! i'm just not willing to wear heels all day, even though i love them. maybe the toms thing was a little trendy... but it's just so... my personality. i had to! plus... they were sparkly!

for my bouquet, I had my sister in law, Chloe's best friend Lee's mom Linda do all the flowers for the wedding. she was absolutely incredible. i showed up at her house with the picture of that bouqet i based the wedding off of and pointed to a few other flowers in books she had and just trusted her to make something i love. and she did. 

i had also gone antique shopping and found some vintage clip-on earrings that i had her use as a brooch on the bouquet, and some antique peach lace to wrap the bouquet with. they worked perfectly (see in pictures above)

 (how my hair was for bridals)

(hair for wedding day)

 (earrings used as brooch)

 (lace used as wrap for bouquet)

 (my earrings. see my bracelet in bouquet pictures above)

my bridesmaids wore skirts i made. they were a pain, but between me, grandma and devin-- we worked it out. they turned out exactly how i wanted them. they wore white 3/4 sleeve tops, sandals and brown belts. and they were gorgeous. these girls are my 4 best friends. and i'm lucky that 2 of them are my sisters! best bridesmaids ever.

wedding post challenge 1-5

1. how it all began: how you met, first date, first kiss, how long did you date? first picture together... etc.

2. when you knew he was the one: self explanatory.. but how and when did you know?

3. proposal: how it happened, how long were you engaged for? was it a total surprise? pictures of that... etc

4. the ring: tell us about it! did you pick it out? did he? pictures! tell us about his ring too?

5. engagement/bridal pictures: let's seem em!

1. Pretty sure I've told these stories on here before, but for the sake of the challenge, I'm repeating: 

how we met: my good friend tracey was getting married in October. her family, the Peavler's, have been friends with their neighbors, the Ashby's since... forever. One of the Ashby's, Devin... was a photographer. Tracey had Devin take her engagements, bridals, and wedding day photos. Her, and our other good friend, Kylee would talk about Devin. That he was cute, and a good photographer. I saw his pictures, and was really impressed. At Tracey's reception, Kylee pointed Devin out to me, and asked me if I thought he was cute. I was there with another guy, and didn't want to offend him, so I didn't say anything. Even though he IS cute... later in the evening, Devin came and took a picture of my, Kylee and Tracey's sister, Shelly. After all the wedding hype was over, Kylee and I were talking on Facebook one day. She told me that Devin had asked about me, asked if I was single... (eeee!!) We became facebook friends and he asked for my number. We talked every single day. 

--okay i just did some major research. meaning i went through my facebook page clear back to October and discovered some helpful timeline inclusions. Right when Devin added me as a friend, I wrote on his wall that I loved Tracey's pictures. That was October 18. I'm guessing that's the day we became facebook friends, too.--

October 21 was our first date. We had found out, among several other ironic coincidences, that we were taking the same math course at UVU. We decided we would get together after Devin's math class (because it was at night) in the UVU library and do homework together.

Ask me how long I took to get ready.

4 HOURS.

moving on.

I got there a little early and picked a seat on the first floor. Devin called me as he was getting out of class and I told him I was by the Starbucks. I thought he knew what I was talking about. Apparently, he head "fabrics" not Starbucks, and got really confused. He finally found me and I was a nervous wreck. But I think I covered it up pretty well. We did our math homework (i was totally not paying attention to my math homework, but it was a really good excuse to avert my eyes in bashfulness) and asked each other small-talk questions. I remember Devin making dinner plans with his brother, Brandon to go to Communal. 

Then, he got a text from his friends, saying they were at Sammy's. He asked me if I wanted to go, and we were out of that library so fast! We went to Sammy's and had grilled cheese sandwiches and an oreo cream pie shake and I met Dane, Jordan, Danica and Ryan. 

And we have seen each other EVERY SINGLE DAY since that first date.

first kiss: October 29. we had made a habit of driving up to south fork to listen to music and have long talks. this was another one of those nights, except we decided we'd go lay in the grass instead of sit in the car because for once, it wasn't raining. we failed to notice how freezing cold it was! we had devin's car blanket, which isn't big enough to wrap around both of us, so we were laying in the grass, really cold, but still having a good time. I remember what I was wearing. I remember thinking he smelled so good. After a long silence, I asked Dev what he was thinking. He said something along the lines of, "I'm thinking that... I want to kiss you."

and I turned to face him and kissed him. 

that's right. I guess that counts as pretty much a tie though. it was a great night. and freezing cold never felt so good!

how long did we date? well, I'd like to think we're STILL dating! we are. we go on dates all the time. and he's a huge flirt. :) but from our first date to being engaged was October 21 - February 25: 4 months.

first picture together: 

this is from one of our first dates. we went to Sean and Chloe's and carved pumpkins with them! Oct. 28. Pretty sure Sean took this for us. Maybe Chloe did. It was on Dev's phone though. Hence the bad quality.

december 5: he said "I love you". it was a sunday. we had gone to his ward, like always, and were taking a sunday nap before going to his parents for sunday dinner, like always. I thought he was sleeping. I was laying on his chest and he whispered it. And I whispered it back. 

2. when I knew he was the one: man, i'm starting to feel so cheesy!

while we were dating, we spent a great deal of time making blueberry pancakes and bacon with V8 and watching TV. it was so much fun.

one night in particular, we were doing just this. we were sitting on the couch, leaning over our plates, watching House Hunters.

I leaned back and looked at Devin sitting next to me, watching TV, eating pancakes at 10 at night, like it was no big deal. And I realized that this was the rest of my life.

And I have to say, that was a pretty safe assumption because that's us in a nutshell! 

I don't remember what day it was. My best guess is some time in November or December. It was still cold outside, and we hadn't talked about marriage yet. Probably November. It was a good night.

3. proposal. i dedicated an entire post to this story, so click here if you don't remember :) it was the greatest proposal ever!

4. the ring: okay... I feel like this is all going to sound like bragging. But I definitely have rights with this beauty:

Devin's good friend Matt Wilson works at Wilson Diamonds in Provo. His Dad is the owner. 

Devin sat down with Richard Wilson (owner) and said he looked at probably 20 diamonds. He looked at loose diamonds and then later picked the setting. He knew he wanted to get me an Oval diamond, so that's what he looked at. The diamond he picked is a 1/2 karat. He picked this one specifically, out of alllll the others because it was the best quality. Better quality than the bigger ones he could have chosen. It was one flaw. Which is just what you want, because if it has no flaws, your diamond is fake. and if it has more flaws... then it has more flaws... haha. The setting he picked has 40 full cut diamonds on the sides.


He had the ring custom mounted on the setting. They had to completely change the way the setting worked because he didn't want the ring to stick out. he wanted it to lay flush. i'm glad he thought of that, because it would drive me nuts to have my ring sticking out. i would snag it on everything, and i heard it's easier to loosen the diamond out of the setting when it's sticking out. and knowing me, i would probably lose it!

The bands are twisted and I love that when you look at the ring from the side, you can see the diamond come to a point on the bottom. It's gorgeous! Last night, we were watching the Bachelorette, watching the guys sit down with Neil Lane and pick out their engagement rings for Ashley. They were looking at these huge rings that look like they were rolled in tiny diamonds... they were so gorgeous.. but I still like mine better. I just can't help it! 

It's absolutely perfect, and Devin picked it out completely by himself. He had told me about his interest in oval diamonds, but that's all I knew. And I had hardly heard of oval diamonds, and fell in love with the idea. I have since only met one other person in the world with an oval diamond ring. I love that it's unique, in a tasteful way. 

(i was too lazy to be picky and choose just a few pictures, so here's a bunch. that's you've probably seen before)

as for Devin's ring: he wanted something really simple. Something that was comfortable, since he doesn't like wearing rings. We got his ring from Wilson, too. And he picked a Tungston. I think it's 6mm. The finish on it is really shiny. I love his ring! It's so cool. And our rings match really well. I don't have a picture of his ring, so here's one I found on the internet that's really similar:

5. engagement/bridal pictures. i've already posted all of them! 

engagements here

bridals here

it's been over 2 months

...since i married my best friend.


so i think it's time to put the pictures up. 2 months is sort of a long time. 


but here's the thing. i'm going to split them up. quite a bit. so i can talk about the details. like my sister in law, chloe did a little while ago with her wedding post challenge. maybe i'll even use that format. in fact, yes. yes i will. so here we go:


1. how it all began: how you met, first date, first kiss, how long did you date? first picture together... etc.
2. when you knew he was the one: self explanatory.. but how and when did you know?
3. proposal: how it happened, how long were you engaged for? was it a total surprise? pictures of that... etc
4. the ring: tell us about it! did you pick it out? did he? pictures! tell us about his ring too?
5. engagement/bridal pictures: let's seem em!
6. the colors: show some of the flower and colors you used
7. the dress: was it what you always imagined? did you have it made for you? white or ivory?
8. the little accessories: you know, the veil? shoes? jewelry? what did your bridesmaids wear?
9. the reception: where was it at? show us some pictures! what day did you get married?
10. the cake/food: i love food. so tell me about what you had at your wedding!
11. your song and/or the first song you dance to at your wedding: share a music video or lyrics if you can!
12. favorite part of the day and least favorite part of the day: can be anything.
13: honeymoon: where did you go? was it good? ;) haha..jk.
14. thoughs on marriage: what is the easiest/hardest part? if you could change anything, what would it be?
15. first place that you lived together: pics if you have them!
16. kids: do you have any yet? if not, when do you plan on it? how many do you want? any tips on good/bad birth control?
17. most recent picture of you and your significant other and what you love most about them :) and any other thoughts.


yeah... we'll definitely be splitting this up. and i feel like this will also make for some repeats. oh well! i'm getting excited already...

twenty

it's about time i turned 20.

i didn't like 19.

it started on the wrong foot, went to rock bottom, then got 100% better. but i'd still like to move on.

plus, it made me sound younger than i feel.

but i'm 20 now. or at least will be TOMORROW.

i've already had a great fantastic birthday, what with Devin's early birthday gifts and all (black diamond backpack, patagonia softshell, middle kingdom vases, columbia shorts...)

and the birthday plans are coming together. it's going to be a perfect birthday, i already know it :)

anyway... 19 was a good year. a really, really rough one. but incredibly good. i learned a lot about myself, and i think know 20 will be even better.

watch out, world. i'm growing up!

Grey's River 2011 - Part 2

Monday, we woke up to cows.

Lots of loud cows.

After about an hour of listening to them moo, we decided to get up and see what was going on. They were right outside our tent. Maybe 20 of them. 10 feet away. In our campsite. All around us.

 (this little one was the loudest)

 (the river was at a record high, and the cows were crossing anyway)

And they never went away. 

And they never stopped moo-ing.

So we spent the morning puttering around. Reading, playing games, Dev shot with the BB gun...

And this happened:

And then we drove out to the road where Devin's parents would be able to see us, and we parked there and watched 500 Days of Summer while we waited for them to show up.

They got here around 2:30 (Gaylon, Vicki, Tammie, Jerry) and decided they wanted to find a different campsite with more shade. 

So Devin and I packed up, yet again, and we set up camp one last time at a shady spot close to Murphy Lake.

We spent the rest of the day hanging around and talking.

Tuesday, we spent the whole day fishing, but I didn't have a license, so after we dropped Gaylon and Vicki off at one spot on the river, and Tammie and Jerry at another spot, Devin picked another stretch to fish and I stayed with the truck reading my book and taking a nap. 

 (my husband is so handsome)

Devin caught 6 fish and we went and found everyone else and made a short trip into town to make calls to everyone else coming up to let them know where we were camped. By the time we got back to camp, we just played games and ate dinner.

Devin's parents set up this awesome tent-shower for us so we both showered and then watched The Blindside in our tent on the laptop. Devin slept so cold and I slept so hot... weird? Yes. I am usually the one freezing!

Wednesday morning, Devin and I were in charge of making breakfast so we made blueberry pancakes with bacon and sausage. Tracey, Kameron and Shelly showed up during breakfast and after, we went fishing.

Today was the only day I had a license for, and I was excited to go. I had been fishing before, several times, but I don't feel like it ever counted because I wasn't really fishing myself. I was always helping my Dad, or casting in a line just for fun. Plus, I had never waded the river before.

Since I bought Devin all new fishing gear for his birthday, he gave me his old pole, boots and waders and I got decked out. And let me tell you how cute neoprene waders are! (not).

 (yeah... i definitely want breathable waders instead.)

It was SO much fun and Devin was a great teacher. He taught me to cast differently then what I knew, and he helped me wade the deep parts. 

Within maybe 15 or 20 minutes, I caught my first fish! As I was reeling it in, I kept yelling things to Devin like, "babe! I caught one! what do I do? what do I do? I caught a fish!"

He got a kick out of my reaction. I caught 5 fish total. Devin caught 11. He kept catching really small ones, maybe 3 inches long, and it was so funny to watch him reel in these tiny trout every time. I caught 3 that were 5-8 inches, and 1 10-inch and 1 12-inch. 

I think it was a total success. I never once touched a fish. I always made Devin get the hook out, but hey. It was only the first time. I'm taking baby steps here.

When we got back to camp, Shane and Bonnie had come with their 3-year-old, Chloe and 10-month-old, Adam. We played games, had dinner and sat around the fire for hours with Kameron and Shane.

Thursday, all the Peavler's went to hike Bailey Lake. Devin was worried about me hurting my knee more, and I wasn't really up for the 12 mile round trip hike, so we made plans to spend the day in Jackson Hole, and Devin's parents decided to come with us.

We gave Max a much needed rinse in Alpine and then drove the half hour to Jackson. We drove out to the Tetons first and Devin took some more cool pictures.

 (excuse the stupid face i'm making and my poor attempt at "cleaning up" after a full week of camping, and also the weird way the wind warped my shirt to make me look pregnant)

In Jackson Hole, there is a restaurant called Bubba's that my family has always eaten at. So I made sure that's where we would eat lunch on this trip! I had a minor panic-attack when I saw the restaurant closed down, but only until I noticed it's new, bigger location across the street. Fwew!

After lunch, we walked around the main, tourist-y part of town in all the different stores, and Devin got me some Columbia shorts (for my birthday). It was so hot out, so we got some Haagen-Dazs and headed back to camp.

The Peavler's were still gone when we got there so Devin and I decided to take a nap. When they all got back, we hung around, had dinner, I played with little Chloe a lot who is adorable and hilarious. 

Devin and Shane cut down a dead tree to use for firewood and we sat around the fire for hours again.

After breakfast on Friday, all the boys went fishing and I spent the afternoon at camp reading, playing Nerts, and entertaining Chloe some more. She calls herself "Pleaver Chloe" (she can't pronounce Peavler yet, and nobody knows why she says her last name first... haha), and calls Devin "Devvy"-- she came up with that all on her own!

Devin had gone with Gaylon and Kameron really high up the river and didn't catch anything. They came back to camp for all of 10 minutes and Gaylon, Vicki and Devin went up little grey's to compensate for the big grey's fail.

Spent the night the same way as always.

Saturday, we woke up and decided that we were ready to go home. We took our time packing up, but ended up leaving around 12:30. We stopped at the Red Baron in Afton for lunch and drove the rest of the way home without stopping. We were home by 5:30 and spent the whole night doing laundry (Devin folded all the laundry. he's the best. that seems like a little thing, but it's not to me) and resting.

Sunday, we almost literally never moved. We watched our entire disc of The Big Bang Theory season 2, and 5 or 6 episodes of Grey's Anatomy. We were on the couch all day! We did go to my parents to drop off some gear we had borrowed, and watched The Unknown with them. Which turned out to be a dumb movie, but we had a good time.

Now it's monday, and we're trying to get back into the swing of things.

I sure love that man, with all my heart. I never even knew it was possible but he means everything to me. Never before has my life become so involved in someone else's cause. My purpose for life, my perspective... it's all different now. I live for a new reason, and that is to be his wife. I only hope I even come close to treating him as good as he does me. I have never felt so completely and totally loved and adored. I am absolutely overjoyed just at the sight of him, and miss him terribly when he's gone. He is my very best friend and the day he married me in the Salt Lake Temple will forever be the best decision I ever made and without a doubt, the happiest day of my life. I never knew another person could make me feel this way, and even if that was a hope in the back of my mind, I certainly never knew I could find him. 

Devin Ashby has changed my life. He has shown me how to live, how to be happy, how to have faith. He has influenced me for good, and I know that not only am I in a much, much better place, but because of him, I am a much, much better person. I have done and achieved things I never thought I could do, and it is all thanks to him. I owe him everything I am. I would do anything for that man. Without question. I am so lucky to be married to such an incredible person.