A Walk Down Memory Lane

Fall of 2011 - Soon after we met...our first wedding as a couple. Thanks Kate and Ryan Netz!!

Winter of 2011 - After a dinner at Americana we walked around the Sculpture Garden. I remember being SO excited that we took a picture together!!

Winter of 2011 - Jeff's first trip to the Civic Center! We sat in the first row for Wicked! It was incredible!!

Christmas 2011 - One of my favorite pictures! We were at the Bentzinger's Annual Christmas Bash!! 

Spring of 2012 - We went to a improv show at the Temple for the Performing Arts. It was hilarious!! I remember this night we also had dinner at Spaghetti Works!

Summer of 2012 - Every summer the Menefee family has a baseball game at our family reunion. Jeff was a great addition to the team!

Summer of 2012 - My dear friend Betsy's wedding! I was a bridesmaid and had a blast!! It was in Mason City so we had the pleasure of staying with Jeff's brother and sister-in-law in Clear Lake at their lake house.

Summer of 2012 - My birthday!! Jeff gave me beautiful earrings for my 30th birthday!!

Fall of 2012 - We didn't take many pictures in the fall of 2012 so I decided to put in one of another member of our little family. Bailey is Jeff's baby. She has really warmed up to me and I love her!!

Christmas 2012 - Opening presents at my parents house! Look at that killer mug from my sister!

February 2013 - Our year and half anniversary! We almost forgot to take this picture. We snapped this right before Jeff went home for the night! 

March 2013 - We didn't take any pictures together but we spent many hours working together on fixing up the kitchen in Jeff's house. It turned out great!

March 2013 - Jeff's favorite part of the kitchen redo - a vintage fridge!

May 2013 - We headed to Osky to watch Addie play T-ball. It was a beautiful but chilly night!

Summer 2013 - Our summer was filled with enjoying cookouts with friends and family. We love our new patio!

August 2013 - To celebrate my 31st birthday we went to Centro for dinner and to see the show "Jersey Boys". It was so fun!!

August 2013 - Waiting for the show to start...

Fall 2013 - One of our engagement pictures!

 It is so fun to look back at the two of us over the last two years! I can't wait for many more reasons to take pictures together!!

Time to celebrate with my girls

I remember having a conversation with my sister and best friend soon after I got engaged about having a bachelorette party. I remember telling them that all I want is a gathering with my girlfriends, good food, and a good time. I was THRILLED with what was planned for me!

My sister-in-law to be designed the cutest invitations!!!

My bridesmaid Ali hosted the first part of the night at her house! It is newly remodeled and is BEAUTIFUL!! 

All the girls at the party have played an important part in my life. Some of the them are girls I met at HOPE, some are from Madrid where I go to church with Jeff now, some Wartburg girls, and some Drake girls. I was overwhelmed with LOVE in that room!! Here I am doing introductions of how I met each gal.

Evie and Ali had made fancy appetizers that were so YUMMY!! You can see them in this picture!
I also opened some adorable gifts!

 Then we headed to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner - BRAVO! Here I am with each table of friends!

 Left to Right: Hillary, Rachel, and Kat

 Sarah K, Sarah N, Nicole, and Ali

 Esther, Jen, Jenn, and Tara

 Alyssa, Shanon, Cassie and Chelsey

 Courtney, Amanda and Danelle

Evie, Anne, Betsy and myself

It was everything I had ever wanted for a Bachelorette party!! I am so thankful for great friends!!

Decorations

Today my mom and I set out on a BIG mission - finding table decorations!

A month ago my bridesmaid, Ali, and I had gone to Hobby Lobby looking for ideas for my table decorations. I came home with lots of treasures that day!!

Today I went back to Hobby Lobby and finished what I had started. First I started by deciding what to put in my eiffel vases. I will have 11 tables with eiffels. Each eiffel vase will have two teal picks and one silvery leaf pick. I am thinking I will use some of the teal mesh ribbon on the table as a runner.

On 14 of the tables I have have smaller flower vases with sparkly flowers.  Seven will have white flowers and 7 will have teal flowers. I am thinking I will fill the bowls with white sand or sugar.  I think I use the teal ribbon as a runner and add votive candles around it.

On the last 5 tables I will have candlesticks with large teal ornaments on top. I will have silver candlestick holders instead of gold. I think the gold is really pretty too! I think it is going to be beautiful!!

Tea Party Time!

Yesterday I was blessed with my first bridal shower! This shower was hosted by ladies from my home town, Guthrie Center. Here is a picture of me with the hostesses. All these ladies watched me grow up! They have all been important in my growth as a Christian woman!

(Left to Right: Diana, Laurie, Vicki, Debbie, Me, Carol, Betty, Merle Anne; 

Not pictured Linda and Cheryl)

   

The theme of this shower was a TEA PARTY! All the tables were decorated with colorful, ornate tea pots! Here are a few pics my sister took of the beautiful decorations!

 

You can see in the picture below that they even set up a small table for the kiddos!

Addie and Eva looking way too grown up for the little table! So pretty!

 

Guests started to arrive and we all enjoyed the scrumptious food!

 

  

After eating the hostesses led an awesome program! Each guest had brought their favorite bible verse to share with me. I was given a Bride's Bible and after each guest read their favorite verse aloud to the group they highlighted their favorite verse in my bride's bible and put their name next too it. I will treasure that bible for years to come!

Then Debbie, another hostess, led the group in a game called "Name that Love Song". It was so fun!! Everybody was laughing and smiling during the game! 

Then it was time to open presents. Jeff and I were overwhelmed with everyone's generosity. We feel so grateful for every gift we were given! Here I am in action!!

 

I had some great helpers when opening gifts!

  

 

 

I couldn't pick just one picture of these sweet girls!!

After the shower I asked my bridesmaids to come up for a group pic!!

(Left to Right: Ali, Evie, Eva, Me, Jenn Williams, Jen Lobeck)

Here is a pic with my mom and soon-to-be Mother in law!

 

This shower was more than I could have ever dreamed of. I am SO blessed!

Engagement Party

I feel so blessed!! On September 21st Jeff and I had our engagement party! My sister Evie and my brother-in-law Adam planned this event so that our wedding party could meet! It was such a fun night! Evie reserved a party room at Baratta's Italian Restaurant. This was where Jeff and I had our first date so it was VERY special to us!! Evie and Adam provided awesome appetizers of Bruschetta and relishes! Then we had the choice of many Italian dishes! It was so delicious!!

The evening was a huge success!! Our parents and siblings got to meet and chat!! Here are three of my favorite pics from the night!

 Jeff and myself after the yummy dinner!! 

Here we are with all our nieces and nephews! We are blessed!

My two beautiful personal attendants - Chelsey and Sarah!

I have also received some SWEET engagement gifts!! From my mom's friend Vicki I got this ADORABLE bride bag. I have used it every day since to keep my wedding info together! Thanks Vicki!!

I also got some great luggage tags from my mom's friend Carol! We will definitely use these on our honeymoon!

We also received a surprise in the mail...our first wedding gift!! My college friend Hiliary saw our engagement on Facebook and sent us our tent from Target! We can't wait to try it out!! 

Next week is our Guthrie Shower at my home church. Can't wait for the fun to begin!!

97 days...

Last week I was writing up a new message on the chalkboard in Jeff's kitchen (I guess I can start calling it our kitchen...crazy!!!) and I decided to add a countdown to the wedding message. I looked up and were at 101 days until the wedding! Today is 97 days until we say I DO!

The past three weeks have been a whirlwind of planning! Here is what we have decided!

Location: The wedding will be at Faith Bible Church. This is the church my grandparents were members of...it has a special place in my heart. This building was built since they passed away but I know the congregation is what mattered to them. Having the wedding in this space is really special to me!!

 

We have also booked rehearsal dinner at The Port on Lake Panorama! This light house can been seen from the restaurant. (I have to remember that it will be probably snowy and not look quite like this).

The reception will be at Lake Panorama National Resort. They have such beautiful receptions there. Here a few pictures from their website. 

We have also booked our photographer - Creative Cousins Photography! This was an easy pick because Courtney, one of the cousins, is a dear friend of ours. She was one of the two gals that set us up on our blind date!! We have many thanks to give her for bringing us together!!

Check out their website:   http://www.creativecousinsphotography.com/

 

We have picked out our wedding party wear!! 

The guys will be wearing gray suits similar to this one. The will have teal ties and teal pocket squares. Jeff's tie is a little different and he will have a vest.

The girls will be wearing a teal separates outfit from White House Black Market.
It is made up of this blouse, big teal belt, and a teal skirt. The girls love it!!!

 

So we have the basics down! We also did some registering these past few weeks. This was SO FUN!! I told Jeff I have been waiting my whole life for this...just kidding :)

First we registered at Target. Here we hit mostly home items for the kitchen and bath...but we did add a few fun things for the backyard and garage!

JEFF AND ALICIA Target Wedding registry
We also registered at Bed Bath and Beyond. We registered here for our china and everyday dishes. Here is a picture of what we chose!

Our china is a simple white pattern with platinum edges. Our flatware has a super cool knife that lays upright. Our everyday dishes are Real Simple brand in Sea Glass blue. This shows square plates but we are registered for round plates. Our flatware for everyday is hammered silver! I love them!!

Our Bed Bath and Beyond Registry - click here 

I also found MY dress... but for now this is all I can show!!




I have truly enjoyed this crazy time of making decisions. Next on the list....

• finalize guest list

• pick out invitations

• pick out a cake

• ENJOY our engagement party next Saturday night!!