5 days....

Just so you all know, it's 5 (yes 5) days until football season. Saying I was excited would be a bit of an understatement. Obviously, my heart belongs to the Razorbacks, but I do love watching every single NCAA game that is on TV. I get excited just thinking about it!

{Alex at Shelby Farms with the Hill Family}

{On our way to take Charlie & Hank to Shelby Farms!}

I can't remember if I previously mentioned it, but Charlie now weighs 35 pounds. He's 14 weeks old and is completely massive! But, he is amazing. He sits, stays, shakes, is potty trained, and sleeps all night on his pillow (outside of the kennel!). We are so proud!

{Dinner at Flight}

Our friend, Burg, came into town this past weekend and stayed with us. We had a very relaxing weekend and did pretty much nothing! I did make an awesome breakfast dish, Cream Cheese Blueberry Braid (courtesy of Kendall Jones!), that was a huge hit for the boys. I must say, I have become quite the Betty Crocker lately. Anyway, on Saturday night we had a company dinner at Flight. Can I just say that it was absolutely fantastic? I had halibut, sea bass with seafood mashed potatoes, and lobster bisque. Yeah, you really can't beat that menu!

Alex and I are still trying to decide on our holiday weekend plans. Lake, Kennett, or Fayetteville. I would love to be in all three places this weekend, but it's just not possible!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

--- KPG

Blessed!

After one week of school, I am absolutely giddy. Giddy. I have learned SO much from the faculty and staff, and know it's just going to keep getting better and better. I take notes everyday on my computer, and I love coming home and reading back through them later. I have literally just been blown away by this school. God has really granted me such a wonderful blessing with this opportunity!

One of the teachers showed me how to create wordles. Some of you may already be familiar with these, but I was not (I don't guess the Psychology department used these!) and I think they're just about the coolest things since sliced bread. I created my own wordle to get the hang of things.

{Pretty cool, huh}

In other news, I am officially in love with estate sales. Alex and I went to several in the Memphis area on Saturday and had an absolute blast. I got a chair and a lamp for very inexpensive, but also just enjoyed looking around. So much fun! (I need to post new pictures of the house; hopefully I will get to that soon!).

Alex is on a business trip this week, so it's just Charlie and I here. Boo. I get bored with not having someone to cook dinner for and no one to talk to! No, it's really not that bad and he will be home soon. Plus Charlie is keeping me entertained.

Well, everyone have a spendid rest of the week!

Oh, and if you're not counting down the days until Razorback Football, you should be. 12 days until game day. You're welcome.

---KPG

Back to School!

{The five Martin Institute residents of PDS}

I'm so excited about the start of this school year! I have already learned SO much through last week's Professional Development, so I already know the year is going to be jam packed with great experiences. The picture above was taken on the first day of Professional Development. These 4 people have already become great friends to me, and I am looking forward to getting to know each of them even better!

So, other than starting school today there isn't much going on at the Griffith house this week. And we are certainly not complaining about that! Alex and I both joined a gym, so we've been incorporating that into our daily routines (which is not easy both working, having Charlie, cooking dinner, mowing the yard, etc.). My arms currently feel like jell-o due to the Body Pump class I attended tonight. Taking a few weeks off from working out was NOT a good choice!

{Courtesy of KES Weddings}

I also have chosen all of my wedding portraits and ordered our wedding book. SO EXCITED!! I have purposefully left our walls somewhat bare in order to hang lots and lots of wedding pictures, and I cannot wait to get them in! The picture above is actually from my mom's book, but it's very similar to a page in ours!

Well, I hope everyone who is also starting school this week has a great first day, and I will be praying that we all have a wonderful year! I know it will be fabulous!!

---KPG

Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Yum.

I got this recipe from a Kraft cookbook, and I have gotten so much fantastic feedback from it that I thought I would share it.

Here's what ya need:

2 (8 oz.) boxes of Philadelphia cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 cup chocolate chip cookie dough, divided

1 graham cracker crust

• Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with hand mixer.
• Add in eggs and beat just until mixed.
• Using 1/2 cup of cookie dough, drop in dough by teaspoonfuls into batter. Mix gently.
• Pour batter into crust.
• Drop remaining cookie dough onto top of batter by teaspoons.
• Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
• Let cool
• Chill for at least 3 hours

See, it's really simple. And so good. And if your husband is like my husband, he will appreciate you adding a little bit more cookie dough to the batter!

Enjoy!

317 thank-you's later....

... I'm finally finished! 317: that's the final number (as of now). That's alot of gifts. That's alot of thank-you notes. That's alot of ink. That's alot of blessings Alex and I have received. I've said this before, but I really am blown away by the amount of love and support we have gotten through our family and friends. I'm not just talking about gifts, either. I love reading the cards we've gotten and hearing others' experiences in marriage. We have gotten several books from people who have written us personal notes saying how the book changed their life and marriage. I cannot wait to sit down and read those books for myself. I know alot of marriage is simply "living and learning" for ourselves, but it also helps tremendously to hear from others and what they've experienced.
Okay, that's my babble for the morning. So yeah, 317 thank you notes. 317. Needless to say, I have gone through numerous boxes and types of thank-you's. I started out with just some informal "Kristen" thank-you's that I used for my Christmas shower (all of the guests were girls from my hometown), but I didn't get a picture of those.

{I used these for all of the gifts we received before the wedding}

{These were used to thank our helpers: Photographers, bridesmaids, etc. I also ordered extra of these to keep for the future!}

{These were used for the gifts received at the wedding or anytime after. I love these!}

I must say that Alex did offer on several occasions to help me with the thank-you's. We have gotten several thank-you's in the mail recently that the grooms have written. However, if you know me at all, you know that I am OCD about things like this and really just need to do them myself. I don't mind writing them at all, but I do have to get them written ASAP or I will drive myself crazy. I also am a little too particular about centering everything on the envelope, etc. As much as I appreciate him offering to help me, it's better for both of us if I just do them!

{He's grown more. What hasn't grown more is my hair}

See that long red hair in the picture above? Yeah, it's gone. I decided to be a little too brave on Wednesday and cut about 6 inches off. That's alot for me. Alex hardly even noticed, and my mom insists that I'm still in the "long hair" category, but it's much much shorter than it has been in a very long time. I'm so protective of my hair. I always love going to get my hair cut, but have a panic attack as soon as it happens. I'm sure Chanda (my hair girl) thinks I'm crazy. Heck, I think I'm crazy! The good news is my hair tends to grow at a record pace, so hopefully most people will be like Alex and not even notice.

My panic attack on the phone with Alex consisted of: "I look stupid." "I can't go to Bonefish tonight looking like this" "My hair is going to be short for the first Razorback football game." "I'm going to ruin our Christmas card picture!"

Wow, Kristen. Can we say dramatic? The next morning I got up and showered, and as I was blow drying my hair I realized "I actually kinda like this length!" Ta Da! I have finally seen the light!

{Alex's haircut was much less dramatic, and looks fabulous!}

Okay, I have got to get to the grocery store now. Bednar and Burg (Alex's friends from college) are coming to stay with us for the weekend, and my mom is coming up on Saturday to go "work clothes" shopping with me. So I'm getting the house picked up and making a few things for them to snack on!

Happy Weekend, ya'll!

---KPG

Mrs. Griffith

Yesterday, someone brought to my attention the fact that in one week, I will officially be known as "Mrs. Griffith" to all of my students. That's a little weird for me. I'd much rather be called "Mrs. Kristen", but I don't think that is allowed. It's just something I'm going to have to get used to!

Charlie and I are in Kennett for the night, which I am uber excited about! I needed an oil change and a haircut, which I have not found places in Memphis for yet, and also need to finish choosing wedding pictures with Mom. Plus, I start school training/conferences next week and wanted one last visit before the craziness begins!

Charlie is officially growing like a week. He is 11 weeks old and weighs 24 pounds. Wow. I carry him around like a baby, but can only do that for about another week! If I'm this torn up about my puppy growing up, I can't imagine how I'll be with my kids in a few years!

{Alex and Charlie}

{Charlie and I}

Well that's all I know, folks! We had a nice weekend at the lake, but I unfortunately forgot my camera's memory card and did not get a single picture. Rats.

---KPG