this makes me smile.

i love...

my little hometown.  it's true.  you can go through it with a long blink of the eye and everyone knows you. your name, your face, and your business.  but i like that.  i like that everyone knows that i got married, who i got married to, and who my grandparents are.  i used to think that i'd escape this place for good, but i left and ached for home so i (we) came back.

i am going to start pointing out everything i love about this place so get ready.  it's going to be a wild ride.  

first we're starting with the pumpkinvine bike trail.  this bike path was created where the old railroad tracks used to be so most of it is flat and shaded and allows you to see some pretty awesome scenery.  it starts about two miles from my house, goes on a hill right next to my dad's house, and the first leg ends at a dairy queen.  what more do you need?

when our entire families were here for the wedding, my momma, oldest brother, and sister went on a little ride.  it was an awesome spring/almost summer day and i had a lot of fun with my family.  we only went eight miles or so, but that's always enough to make my butt sore.  

can you spot the stuffed animal hiding in the trees?

my brother rode his longboard!

this is supposedly a legit camel dairy at an amish farm on one of the backroads.  

they've got all sorts of camels, even babies!

the one below is the dude, i think.  he was by himself in an pen up by the road at the front of the house.

xoxo,

aubrey e 

(wedding) cardigan DIY.

what up kids.  i'm showing you a quick DIY i used for my wedding attire.  since my dress was strapless, i thought i'd be more comfortable if i wore a cute little cardi after the ceremony was over (in the end, i ended up taking it off because it was hot and i didn't care who saw my flabby arms.  i was married then; everyone important was already locked in ;).).  i knew i wanted to bedazzle said cardigan and so needle felting became the bedazzle avenue of choice.

here's how it all went down...

i got all of my supplies, sans cardigan, at hobby lobby.

(at first i got cream-colored roving and was going to poke it into my "molds" like i saw on pinterest

 instead of using them to cut out my shapes.

after i played around with that method, it seemed that cutting them would be easiest.)

once you have your shapes cut, place them where you want on your fabric, put the stabilizing block underneath, and start poking.

and poking.  and poking.  and poking.

once all edges and the middle are secure, you're done!

i put hearts near my shoulders on the front and a little cluster on my shoulder in the back.

i love this DIY because i'm still wearing that cardigan and it's pretty cute even with my everyday clothes ;).

xoxo,

aubrey.

becoming a kilgore, part two.

hi guys!  here are some of the second half of our wedding pictures.  (see part one here!)  like i said, we got married above the goshen theater in goshen, indiana.  it's about a half hour from where we live and i found this place on the CHEAP.  er, inexpensive.  yeah, i think that's what i am supposed to say.

i tried to keep everything about our wedding simple.  sometimes no matter how hard you try, that doesn't always work.  our tables had flowers in milk glass vases, pairs of owls, a vintage handkerchief, and a vintage table cloth.  around the ballroom i taped up pictures of me, pictures of lee, and pictures of us using washi tape.  (i found some amazing pictures from my childhood that i'll probably need to share soon.  some of the sweetest things between my siblings.  it makes my heart sing.)  i hung vintage sheets across the windows that faced the street as a backdrop for where we stood.  when this was all finished, it look to incomplete to me so at the last minute i added the paper lanterns (thank you janie for always having those on hand!).

 

we had a cupcake and candy buffet.  there were small owl bags that people could fill with whatever candy the wanted as their favors.  one my favorite parts of our candy bar was how jacki (lee's sister, my sister-in-law, candy buffet wizard) integrated all of my vintage pyrex!  it made my collecting worthwhile (aka i have  reason for hoarding) :).  

after we took our pictures at various destinations, we came back to the theater to take family pictures with our crews and get this wedding thing started.  

i love this picture of my dad and i.  he's carrying raina's sign (see below) and we've both got this "ready to roll" look.  let's do this.  

here comes my niece raina holding our homemade chalkboard sign (modeled after rachel's version that aren't for sale anymore).

my something blue was my pink and blue "k" necklace (for kilgore!) from the merriweather council that i put on after we were married.  i also put on a cropped pink cardigan that i bedazzled with hearts (DIY to come!).  

i love this picture!  of course bailey caught the bouquet :).

all my bests from high school :).  it was so awesome to reunited again!

i'll say it once (okay, way more than once) and i'll say it again...

i am so happy to be married!  so happy that all the stress and build up of ONE day is over & now we get to focus on a million days that are built on (mostly) happiness.  and a little ice cream. 

<3 aubrey.

ps. don't be fooled.  i BAWLED the entire way down the aisle.  my dad said the sweetest things to me and seeing everyone i love and the boy i love the most was overwhelmingly awesome.

/// 40 days.

lee and i have been married for forty days.  forty whole days.  on the whole, it's be awesome.  we've lived together for over four years so i didn't think anything was going to change, but something (small, discreet, but feelable) has changed and it's so cool.  i can't describe it.  we're more in sync and on the same page now more than ever and it gives me a great deal of confidence for the rest of our lives :).

the few weeks up to our wedding were stressful.  out of towners were coming, plans got changed, twenty four hours a day wasn't long enough, etc. but none of it mattered saturday morning.  i didn't care about anything but marrying my best friend, no matter how short we were with each other in the previous weeks. our day was full of happiness and our good friends/photographers (janie + john of imagination photography) captured it in the best way.


we got married above the goshen theater in an old ballroom.  i think i was able to convey the atmosphere in this location (and it was cheap!) but i don't know if i'd recommend this venue to others.  the people in charge were nice enough but inconsistent and not always prompt on responses.  plus, there is no elevator.  only a lot a lot of stairs... on the upside our name was on the marquee :).

lee and i saw each other before the wedding.  part of me was a little apprehensive about this because i wanted there to be the big LOOK as i walked down the aisle but this was just as awesome.  our first look happened in a record store and was perfect.  absolutely perfect.  and so US.

(this picture is one of my absolute faves! ^)

this is my bridal party: eliza (cousin), chelsea (sister), me (bride :)), bailey (best friend), josh (best friend), and whitley (best friend).

i had a ton of fun before the wedding hanging out with all our people, taking pictures in the heat.  i kissed when i was told to kiss and smile when i was told to smile all with my best friends, literally along for the ride.  i was glad we chose to see each other before five o'clock because i got to spend all of my special day with lee and really, that's what i want to do forever.

i can't wait to see when 40 days turns into 40 years.

xoxo,

mrs. kilgore    

ps. i got my dress at david's bridal and it just so happens to be the same one that the cutest girl ever named elycia wore in her wedding too!  obviously all the cool kids have great taste :).

bridesmaids dresses are from an etsy store called jennifer lilly designs.  they are affordable, adorable, and something all the girls will wear again.  tights are from we love colors!

the boys are wearing bow ties i made using elsie's tutorial!
all photographs were taken by imagination photography!  check them out.  they're nothing short of amazing!