Less than what?!

So folks we are less than 3 months away from the big day!  I cannot believe how quickly time flies!  I promised some talk about menu and room design for you all today so here goes!

Up in Vail we were able to go up to the actual venue and meet the chef and coordinator who will  be there the day of our wedding.  The chef was an amazingly nice and accommodating guy who made us some delicious food.  The only bad thing was we had eaten lunch with our wedding planner Katie right before…he brought us SO MUCH food!!!  I felt really bad only taking a couple bites of each, but he was so nice about it and knew that there was no way we would be able to eat all of it!  I think we have made the final decisions about what you all will be eating…but to make to final FINAL choices we have to wait until the ski season is officially over and they make the summer menu decisions….which I think is today!

Room design was something I was super terrified of!  I have so many ideas, but have no idea on how to put them together and make them work.  Katie from Impromptu Company met us up in Vail and has some really great ideas!  The great part is, they looked at my Pinterest page, and are going to take it from there!  I will provide the decorations I already have and they will just get the rest.  I can’t even tell you how much stress this takes off my shoulders!

This week I am officially starting the “wedding” exercise and food plan.  I will dive more into that soon 🙂

Since I forgot to publish this last night on ACTUAL Wedding Wednesday I can include some #tbt and our trip to Italy last summer!

Can we PLEASE GO BACK!!

Wedding Wednesday is BACK!

Ok so here it is!

This last weekend we were up in Vail.  I just love that place.  It is beautiful all the time…summer, winter, fall…seriously that place can do no wrong.  We went up to Vail on Thursday evening and tried out the first of a couple of places for our rehearsal dinner.  See the thing is, our practice wedding  and dinner is probably much bigger than anything you have ever heard of…we are going to have over 40 people in attendance.  OVER 40!!  So we had to be very specific when we were asking venues about holding our shindig We ate a few different places and actually came up with an idea at a place we have never even tried.  If any of you have heard of Pepi’s in Vail…we would love opinions!!  The main draw is that they have this amazing room completely separate from the restaurant.  During the summer months, they take out all of the windows and it is a giant open air space.  It also has its own bar which Lynne said was VERY important 🙂

Friday was quite exciting.  I had my hair and makeup test.  It is so much fun to have someone pamper you for a couple of hours on a random Friday in April!  My lovely and beautiful friend and hairdresser in Denver just happens to not “do hair for weddings” so I was a little nervous.  She came through and found someone in Vail!  She is amazing and was super fun.  I think it is super important that the day of we are all having so much fun and I am completely confident that she will make it just that!  Same goes for makeup!  Anna, the hairdresser, recommended Carrie and it was amazing!  I just cannot wait until the day is here!!

Next week I will let you know about menu tasting and room design!!!!

Here is a look at our AMAZING venue during the winter months…

I mean…come ON!!! Mount of the Holy Cross there in the background!

Also Happy Easter from the soon to be Denver LeGasse crew!

94 days…

Oh hey…it’s been a tick…

All right friends.  I have been MIA for such a long time…I AM SO SORRY!  School has been CRAZY.  We had our standardized testing, spring open house, and classes I am required to take for school.  I feel like for a minute there I was literally a walking zombie.  I was just pushing through one day at a time. Spring Break is winding down and I am feeling refreshed and renewed.  That may only last for 2 days once I get back into school, but I will take what I can get!

So updates!  Can you believe it, the wedding is less than 100 days away!  This Wednesday, Wedding Wednesday is back and I will let you know all about our weekend in Vail.  We did some final tests and made some decisions….I can’t wait for this wedding, just hearing about ideas from my “team”(I can’t believe I have a team for this :)) makes me realize how much fun it is going to be when it finally arrives!

I have been working towards a new position at school that I am also really excited about, that is ALSO something you will have to wait to hear about 🙂

I had my first shower this last weekend in Iowa and I had SO MUCH FUN!  I am not counting this as Wedding Wednesday, it is Shower Sunday, so you are welcome for this little treat!!

My soon to be mommy-inl-law! I couldn’t ask for a better one 🙂

Sadie, my sister’s “life partner” made these adorable cookies! Side bar: Kelsey is married…to a man…a sweet little Dutch one at that…

Sweetest Copper top I know!

Buddies since 1985!! My beautiful cousin Rachel!

My favorite favorite favorite Panthers!! MUCHO LOVE and so thankful they were all able to make it!

I so overwhelmed with the love and support of everyone! My sisters did such an amazing job putting it all together and I loved the decorations!  I also have to give it up to my parents for hosting at their house and housing a ton of people who came to stay for the weekend!  My parents are the best! I can’t thank everyone enough for the gifts, your time, and just making me smile.  I haven’t stopped since I got home!  I will have more pictures from the shower coming soon 🙂

Last but not least, I have been LOVING my Rodan and Fields!  It feels good to help others feel good about themselves.  I am excited to get my sisters some goodies and my little mom has been trying the Amazing roller!

I will give you more info and her review soon!  Let me know if you want to feel and look amazing!!

Baby seeester

So we have come to finally come to the end of the road… it was a long one wasn’t it!  Seven bridesmaids and we are going to bookend this with the little maid of honor.

I have two younger sisters and it was WAY too hard to decide on one of them up there..so I have a Matron of honor, who you all met 6 weeks ago, and a Maid of honor.  That title of Maid is going to the baby sister of the fam Rebecca Levenhagen.  I don’t even know where to start with this little nugget.  I remember when my mom was pregnant with her and we all thought she was a boy(and there was that one year where mom cut all her hair off and she DID ACTUALLY look like a boy- you are welcome I am not posting that photo–only because I don’t have it…) and out came that FAT little baby girl.

One of my favorite pictures of us!

She is 6 years younger than me, so I missed a lot of stuff when she got older.  I feel terrible about that.  I wish I would have gone home to watch her cheer(even though it killed me on the inside she was doing it) or would have been around for more proms and homecomings.  She has never ever held that against me and will call me randomly to tell me she misses my face. She loves me as her older sister unconditionally, and for that I am forever grateful.  We have had our share of fights too, I remember a time we went on a run together and ended up screaming at each other and both made it back to the house in tears.  I have no idea what we were fighting about but it was full of gusto and passion, I know that!  She never does anything without gusto 🙂

She has grown up way too fast!  I can still chant the cheer my mom made up so we could spell her name…just ask me I will do it for you 🙂  I am beyond proud of her and I am so happy I can not only call her my baby sister, but also a friend. Love her so so so much and she is going to be a wondrous maid of honor.

Look at those FRECKLES!!

We should have our own reality show…but for real

All right so this week is dedicated to Amy Whiteside Schaeffer.

This girl has been around for quite some time.  I moved to Colorado in May of 2009 and I met Amy the VERY first week I moved here.  She was talking all about this CrossFit craze and thought it and her sounded crazy.  The rest is literally history.  We have been together ever since.

I can’t even think of the best stories that we have because there are honestly so many.  I mean there were the pool parties, Drama and Hotness Monster, brunch with Jack(that turned into EVERYONE calling in sick the next day), and so on and so on and so on and so on….The pictures really tell a lot of the stories, well the parts we are both ok with admitting happened…

Finally “grown up” and acting like adults 🙂

She has been there through some really hard times and has been there for some of the best days of my life.  I don’t think half of the good things that have happened would have meant as much if she wasn’t by my side.  She is the most selfless person I have ever met and would do anything anyone asks of her.  I know that no matter what she will be there helping through every stage of whatever may come next.  It is pretty simple…she is the best and I am so thankful that I get to call her my friend.

She has how many?!

This week is dedicated to Mrs. Renee Guy.

So, if the story of meeting Adrienne sounded scary and nerve-wracking (and it was), the story of meeting Renee is the complete and total opposite of that.  Backtrack here…Renee is Fran’s middle sister.  Her and I are actually the same age, well I am really a few months older, but I am going to go with the same age.  The background story I got from Francis was the following, and I quote, “Oh, you don’t have to worry about Renee, she likes everyone.”  Thanks Francis, very helpful on that one! I met Renee the same time I met Adrienne at the wedding.  At that point in time she only had 2 kids and that teacher in me connected with those two right away. Renee literally acted like we had known each other forever.  I felt so at home and not once did she leave me out, it was almost as if she was going out of her way to include me!

At Disney last year!

So I mentioned that at the time of the wedding she only had 2 kids, well now she has 4.  Yes you heard me right, she has 4 kids.  Tried for one more and identical twins came out!

Those 2 surprises!

All joking aside, she is an AMAZING mom.  I have told Francis SO many times that I have no idea how she does it AND all with a smile on her face.  She never gets flustered and always always always puts her girls first…oh yeah forgot to mention, she has 4 GIRLS…coming from a family of 3 girls, I know what she has coming!  Even though she too knows what she has coming, she still loves what she does every single day.  I can only hope to be a fraction of the mom she is, and also have a fraction of the kids she has 🙂  I kid I kid

Really though, I am gaining another amazing wonderful and beautiful sister and brother in law.  I cannot wait to see where the next years take us and I can’t wait to celebrate with her and her amazing family!

Quick wedding update fools:

We met with the wedding planners yesterday!  They are so awesome and are going to be amazing when the wedding gets closer.  We are going up to Vail in April so they can see the reception space and guide me on how to decorate!  They were very impressed with how much we already have done 🙂 Thanks to that AMY!!  If you have any event in the Denver area, seriously get a hold of these ladies and the will blow your mind!

Also I THINK I found my hairstylist up in Vail!  We will also be doing a trial when we go up to Vail to do another check of the space and pick the final menu!  When she called me back she asked if I was from Iowa because of my cell phone number, and then went on to rave about how much she loves people from Iowa…So obviously I have to go with her!

2 more bridesmaids to go 🙂

MoveSTRONG

This week is dedicated to my beautiful soon to be sister Adrienne Montgomery.

Let me begin by saying that sisters are not a department I am lacking in, and I am sure my dad can vouch for that!  When I found out Francis had two younger sisters, I have to admit I was NERVOUS about meeting them.  ESPECIALLY when Francis described his sister Adrienne.  He was so nonchalant about how he said, “oh yeah Adrienne doesn’t like anyone”.  No kidding that is how he said it!!  Really built up my confidence before I met her.

So fast forward about 6 months and 1) I am going home with Francis for the first time and 2) I was meeting his sister Adrienne for her WEDDING!  Can you think of a more stressful and crazy time to have to meet this new girl who is dating your beloved older brother?!  Soooo I bet you are all expecting this dramatic story of how she hated me and it took me all of these years to win her affection….sorry to disappoint but that is not how it all unfolded.  It was like I was already part of the family and she thought it was the funniest thing ever that he would say that about her…Fran got a good old punch in the arm for making me so nervous.

Cheering on Michigan during their dismal season 😦

Here we are now and let me tell you, I cannot wait to add her to my list of sisters!  She is one of the most motivated women I have ever met in my life.  She lived in New York and danced, which I think is just so brave and cool!  She runs 2 🙂 awesome gyms (she is just in the middle of opening an awesome place partnered with an OBGYN), and is always working and striving to help people have better and healthier lives!  I love that we can connect on food and fitness but can always enjoy a glass of wine too!  I also have to say I love her choice in a husband and am excited to gain him as a brother along with her.  Fun fact of the day: all of the LeGasse children have significant others with the first name starting in “S”…no kidding Steve, Scott, and now me SARAH!  Anyway, she is amazing and I am so happy not only do I get to spend the rest of my life with Francis, but also Adrienne!  Maybe to can teach me to dance, or to do yoga…maybe not…

Out on a limb here folks…but a sturdy amazing limb

So anyone who knows me knows that I do not jump into anything lightly.  I am always guessing, then 2nd guessing, then 3rd guessing and so on and so forth.  Everyone also knows that when I do finally make a choice, I GO ALL OUT!

SO here it is…

I have joined my soon to be sister in law on her Rodan and Fields team.  I am not going to use the word selling skin care products, I am going to use the word promoting.  I ordered a HUGE kit of products and have tried them, and guess what THEY WORK!

I have been teaching for 4 years now and someday soon I want to start a family.  I know when I do that I will not be teaching and I want to have something I can contribute to our family. Why not do something that I can do from home and that I use!! I am also getting ready for a wedding and want to look amazing on my big day.  I have already seen changes happening in my skin and i just know I will be positively glowing on July 11th.  I am excited to get started, and am learning so much about skin care and can’t wait to share everything that I am discovering with all of you!

Here is a little nugget from Allure.com about one of the many products that can make your skin AMAZING!  Read away and let me know if you want more information!!

Wedding Wednesday will be next, and you will learn even more information about my beautiful wedding party 🙂

A-Wall…see what I did there…Cowboy UP!

First off, sorry for the hiatus…needed a brain break and I took one in every single aspect including blog posts!  Never fear though, I am back!  6 months until the wedding so I really need to get my act together.

Since the last post I let you all in on the little secret known as Laurie Wild, I figured why not keep up the trend and go with my UNI roots. This week we have the beautiful Andrea Powers (formerly known to I believe only me as A-Wall…get it, like J-Wall from Laguna Beach…I sure loved that show).  I met Andrea in that infamous dorm room on the second floor of Dancer Hall.  She moved in with Katy, and I remember we were all worried that she wouldn’t fit in or worse she wouldn’t like Busch Light.  All of those fears were laid to rest the minute we met her.  I felt like I had known her my whole life!

 

She was right alongside Laurie and I in all of the crazy stunts we attempted to pull throughout those UNI days.  I think she mentioned it in her post, but I will never forget when she ran through a field of snow in the middle of nowhere when we ran out of gas in Mike and Michelle’s minivan.  That came after we decided we were too cheap to pay for the hotel in Chattanooga for the National Championship football game, and we slept in the van in the parking lot…it was SO COLD!  Oh and we almost died because of Laurie’s stellar city driving 🙂  I also think we might be some of the only people who watched the show Wildfire and LOVED it!

I remember chasing cowboys with her, and wouldn’t you know it, she found herself one of the best (love you Mr. Powers!)  Not only is she married to a cowboy, she has 2 little cowmen on her hands…I CANNOT wait to someday soon see me favorite little man be the best mutton buster west of the Mississippi!

I don’t see her often, she lives in middle of nowhere in western Iowa so cell reception is a little shotty ;), but I still consider her one of my closest friends.  When we do talk, it is like nothing has changed.  I cannot imagine my big day without her standing up there with me. I love love love her!  I was honored to stand with her on her big day 2 years ago, now I decided to grow up and tie the knot, now we just need Laurie(go get ’em Dustin!!) and we can all build our new big kid memories together!!

Back next week with yet another bridesmaid bio!  I will also give you some updates on the planning…things are starting to pick up and we will be meeting with our planners soon to hammer out more details!!

Also check it out, we made our photographers blog this week!!  She is just the best 🙂  She doesn’t just do weddings 😉

On to the next one…

So my littlest sister is going to be SO mad at me, because I am pretty sure she is expecting this week to be about her, buuuuut I am throwing her for a loop and skipping around in the old wedding party 🙂  You are welcome Rebecca!

This week belongs to the lovely Laurie Wild.  Yes her last name is really Wild, and yes, for most of our college career she lived up to that name.  I remember the first time I met Laurie.  I was visiting UNI in the 1st semester of my sophomore year of college.  I was miserable at my 2nd of 3 colleges ( I was a little indecisive, but I still did it in 4 years so lay off) and was visiting the Heather formally with known as Tut Butt.  Heather had to work at the football game so I was left to my own devices with Katy and Laurie.  Not going to lie, thought she was a bit much.  🙂  Don’t worry the story takes a VERY positive turn.

We all know I ended up transferring to the great UNI and Laurie came with the group of friends I acquired.  I just couldn’t get rid of her.  We ended up getting into some of the most crazy shenanigans imaginable and honestly I could not think of a better person to have around for those! Who involved could forget the night we got written up in the dorms for drinking and Laurie was NO WHERE to be found….or crashing room 211 in Dancer Hall for 2 years straight.

Dancer Hall Room 211

What about EVERY basketball game that T Griff played in and we only half remember (my favorite being Katy’s birthday ESPN game).

This is a shot from the actual game, we made the media poster they sent out to ALL high school seniors….Laurie is hidden behind my arm…

Road trips, trips to the student health center, sitting in the steam room at the WRC, and stalking Geoff(pronounced G-OFF because who spells it like that?!)   I love this girl and the memories I have with her, plain and simple.

Although we do not see each other very often, I still know I can call her whenever I need a laugh and she will not disappoint.  She has the coolest job out of the entire posse ( she is a freaking country radio DJ) and has become a wonderful sort of stepmom( :)) to a cutie!  I love her man friend and can’t wait to celebrate one day with the two of them! I am so happy she agreed to come all the way out here from Wisconsin to be a part of my day!!

Busch Light AKA nectar of the GODS!

No words…

The infamous posse

I really like talking about my friends, they are so cool 🙂

2 DAYS until Winter Break!!! Cannot wait!!