Merry Crafting!

Okay, so maybe I've been singing Christmas tunes since Halloween, but at least I had the good sense to wait until AFTER Thanksgiving before I decorated the apartment this year! I know I've already posted all these photos on facebook, but having little (that I wanted) to do during my last couple hours of this weekend, I felt like starting up this blog again and re-vamping it a little. No more wedding stuff. That's all put away now, and it's time to face the actual ever after part. So, here is my new/old hobby to picked up on the occasions that I am not frantically too busy with life to enjoy just browsing the internet for beautiful things and adding my little quips here and there. Hope you like the new look.



 Being in the north once again, I've had a mild obsession with reindeer and snowflakes this time around. Yet, I can't help be stay true to my favorite peace theme and kept the tradition alive with birds adorning a live tree, which this year is a rosemary bush I bought on clearance from the nursery down the hill. But all this small talk aside, the holiday season makes me just as giddy now as when I was a kid. Not to mention, we finally have a fireplace mantel for the first time in our adult lives!!! So, here are my little crafts this year to bring on the good tidings in our new home in Vermont. Hope they bring you as much warmth as it brought me to make them.

And of course, my handsome husband, studying while I play some Nat King Cole and decorate the tree!

Happy Holidays!

XOXOXO

Happily Ever After!!!!



Here we are four months after the big day and all I've managed to do post-wedding responsibility-wise is post some pictures on facebook and order prints to fill our albums. Not that I haven't been dying to get back on this blog, but real life swoops in swiftly after the honeymoon! So, to fill y'all in on the details des Garuz, I had to make one last big blog post before I change the title and subject over from "Ash & Jeyko Wed" to something having a little more to do with this crazy balancing act of nesting syndrome, med-school, the establishment of some career or other, and warding off babies (just for now), that we have welcomed as our new life=)

First things first, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! To everyone who came and participated in our wedding (Best Day Ever) or sent us sweet cards/gifts even though you couldn't make it, Jeyko and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are also tremendously sorry that we still have not sent out thank you cards. Jeyko got the letter of acceptance to University of Vermont Medical School, and seeing as it started in only a couple of months, we made the split decision to pack up everything and move. The process between deciding what to do and actually Uhauling everything up to Burlington, parking in front of a realtor's office and begging for an application for one of the last remaining apartments, took a grand total of three weeks. It was that crazy.

 

Just before the big move (literally, the week before) we took a few days with Mom and Kevin relaxing in Akumal Bay, Mexico, watching sea turtle mamas lay their eggs, and snorkeling and such. Jeyko and I took an epic (yes, I said it) bicycle ride through the jungle in the rain discovering Mayan sites on trails where we sometimes were entirely on our own for almost a mile. Magical? I say yes!

Then, after a day or three saying our goodbyes, we set off with the help of Jeyko's parents and Daddy's big truck up to future-land. We had so much fun toodling around with them in Burlington for a week while they helped us settle in (and Papi basically re-built every piece of furniture we own, plus more). Have I mentioned we have the most incredible parents ever?!

The next couple weeks after they left were our real honeymoon, soaking up the sights of Vermont (this state is flipping gorgeous!), doing mini roadtrips back and forth between Burlington, Webster, New Hampshire (to visit his cousins), and Portland, Maine (where my brother, Austin lives). We've hit up a few breweries between here and there and intend to do more. All in all, we had a blast together before Med-school quickly swooped in....oh, what am I sayin', we're still having a blast! We've come to know so many wonderful people in his class!

As soon as August hit, we made a frantic dash of completing our new living space, finding a 'place' for our amounts of stuff that suddenly seemed borderline ridiculous, going to all the getting-to-know-you functions at school, and suddenly leaping into my two new jobs that started at once just before the end of the month. Whew! and it hasn't really slowed down since! In other words, please don't hold my lack of etiquette against me too much...as soon as I actually dig all those papers full of addresses out from wherever they're hiding, I will certainly get on the thank you notes. Cross my heart.



In the meantime, I finally have a way of getting all our pictures out to you to print, order straight from the site, or just browse through, your choice. There are something like 1490 of them, so there should be plenty to keep you busy! I'll work on getting some videos up on there as well. The site is a share site from Shutterfly, which is great because there are always deals. The link is: http://announcingashleighjeykogaruz.shutterfly.com/ . Again, THANK YOU so much! Keep in touch!



Bridal Shower Thanks!!!!

Before anything else, I want to give a big, huge THANK YOU to these wonderful ladies:

Dona Moss, Memaw Moss, Aunt Anita, Aunt Terry, Aunt Marty, Aunt Alice, Megan and Taylor, Aunt Kathy, Teresa and Shaina Corbin, Julia Schaupp, and Alejandra Garuz, Rebecca Sherrer and Louise Thompson (who unfortunately couldn't be there, but were so sweet to send me a present).

You ladies rock my socks and I love you so much!
Not that I love the other special ladies in my life any less, but these gals made the bridal shower so special. So, THANK YOU again!

May 1st was a beautiful day all planned out by my wonderful "bonus" mom, Dona. She hosted my bridal shower at the Ivy House in downtown Alachua, where we were given our own little room with a fireplace upstairs. The place is BEAUTIFUL, the food was incredible, and oh my gosh....the CAKE! Not quiet your normal carrot cake; a little more citrus and coconut than carrot; but it was to die for! But why talk about what a great time we had when you can see for yourself?

 My Memaw and step-mom, Dona

 Just the aunts!

 The wonderful Corbin ladies, Teresa and Shaina

 My sweet little cousin, Taylor

 Shaina in the schmancy gift shop

 Shaina, one of my bestest friends!

 A few pictures of me with my "bonus" mom and hostess, Dona

 Opening presents!!!

 Maybe I should have finished on this picture...Yum!

 The super awesome and unexpected pink elephant tea-pot!

Shaina and her mama are cool like that;P

The photographers of all these lovely pictures! Shaina took all the black and white ones and the gorgeous cake and present photo at the top. The rest were taken by Teresa. Dona took a bunch also which include the rest of our guests a little more (Julia and Megan weren't shown in these) but I don't have those ones quite yet. I will post them later when they're available.

And now, as a very special thank you to the presenters of all the fine gifts...And for those who unfortunately could not make it but wish they could have (sorry Mama)... I unveil the presents!

 That beautiful tablecloth is also a gift, by the way:)

And I can't leave out this beautiful piece of garden art that our friend, Ezra, gave to Jeyko while I was off sitting fancy with the girls. Thank you Ezra!



So again, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone. Everything is so beautiful and Jeyko is just as excited as I am about them. We can't wait to see you all for the big day in just a few weeks! Love y'all!

New Crafty Crafts!

Before I say anything, I officially dedicate this entire post to The Bride's Cafe, which I only just discovered a few days ago and have basically stolen, no, let's say "borrowed", every craft in this post from. This site is packed with awesome diy ideas! So, let's get started.

First round, which I am actually going to do for mine and Jeyko's chairs, if not more...considering our abundance of apples and the expense of the other materials.

The Apple Chair Swag

It is just so clean and elegant, I can't resist. Plus, we'll be in an orchard...decorating with apples and other fruit just seems right.

And here are some other very pretty projects I picked out from the first and third pages of the diy section(though there are atleast seven pages of wonderful projects)...and really these are just a few.

Tee Shirt Flowers

Crepe Flower Bouquet

 Okay, so I know I've already posted how-to flower guides with crepe and linen flowers, but these are the prettiest I've seen so far.

Linen Flower Pin

Mossy Monogram

This one is especially cool and way easier to make than I would have thought.

So, those are my little finds for the evening that I had to share. There are still more beautiful ones that I would consider trying, but these seemed most closely linked with our little natural theme we have going on. Enjoy.

Back in Wed-World, Budget-beautiful

So, the icky two weeks of pneumonia has brought about one great thing, the excuse to blog my current wedding dreams and (time-sensitive) diy obsessions. After a little reprimand and strict docter's note, I am hereby confined to bedroom-land: sleep, soup, internet. So now what? Thanks to some of the great lady friends who bless my life, I have been re-introduced into the wedding blog scene by way of one awesome shared post from Rock n Roll Bride. Enter Alejandro & Aurelia's Frida-inspired style!

Thank you Shaina for sharing the beautiful Kahlo hair! I'm officially back on the vintage-hippie bandwagon!

I also have become slightly infatuated with the Rock n Roll Bride site in the last two days, scouring every post for lusciously unique weddings by couples who make it their own.



A couple little nifty decor pictures I grabbed from them:

Very simple, yes, but also a very budget-friendly way to create a pretty display of memories the couple has shared.

And this little diy piece by Elbie & Derek sold me completely to the use of books in the wedding (think love stories and classic literature...and the fact that I'm an English geek). Those pearls on the books reminded me of our Christmas tree beads we always used when I was a kid. They were so pretty with their pinkish glassy sheen. I used to wrap myself up in them and strut around the house like a courtesan. Actually, they are the same as Miss Laurel's that were handed down to her by her mama last year. I wonder if ours are still hanging around somewhere?

And of course, thinking of how I could incorporate the pretty things we may already have in the family, led me to remember some cute cheap/handmade ideas I had stumbled upon a while back. Like these ones from 100 layer cake and Simply Vintage Girl:

The cans, notice the cans...so easy! And I'm sick! Soup cans are in abundance!

 Okay, I admit, I only labled this 'doilies'. So, I actually don't remember where it came from, but I like it.

 I am so obsessed with bunting it is not even funny.

 And this is soap made by 'Vintage Girl' Emily Rose, which I will not attempt...However, I really like that little hangy thing above it, and her crafts in general.

So here is a list of what I already have to work with that may be of use:

mason jars galore!

a tub of vintage sheets

some random pieces of milk glass or colored/old glass (bowls and vases)

branches...literally piles from the orchard

Spanish moss

newspaper

random fabric

possibly Christmas tree beads

pink and white tissue paper

tons of ribbon of different colors

soup cans

saved sites full of printable freebies and labels

Soo........

There may not be much time left but I've got a start and a head full of pretty thoughts.