Our Charming Charlie!

Here are pictures of our newest member of the family: Charlie! He is absolutely precious. Although at times he can get a little rambunctious, he is typically sweet as pie and so entertaining! He has already stolen his mama and daddy's heart and sleeps in the middle of the bed with us! Judging by the size of his paws, we may not be able to all fit in the bed very much longer!

{Alex and Charlie swimming at Greer's Ferry}

{Family Photo!!}

{Charlie is already almost as big as I am!}

{He is such a good car rider!}

Charlie is going to Kennett this weekend to meet my parents! Hopefully he will be on his best behavior during the visit. We are just enjoying the puppy phase because it's not going to last very long!

---KPG

Best News Ever!

Good evening, bloggers!

As I sit and watch the Home Run Derby with Alex and Charlie, I wanted to share some wonderful new with you.

I began applying for a few teaching jobs back in March. I didn't really spend a whole lot of time looking for opening positions due to finishing school, wedding planning, remodeling the house, and moving, but I did apply to a few schools and just hoped for the best.

Well, about 2 weeks ago I got a call for an interview. On Saturday morning, I met with three wonderful people from the school and had a great meeting with them. I felt like it went really well and just prayed on it the rest of the weekend.

This afternoon, I got a wonderful phone call: a job offer! The prayers were answered, and I know this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I did not major in education because I got the calling a little late in my college career, but this first year I will build a portfolio and learn teaching techniques. I am so excited to be working at Presbyterian Day School in Memphis. What a wonderful opportunity, and what an amazing blessing!

Needless to say, Alex and I are both very very very excited. He took me to Benihana tonight for a celebration dinner! Alex has never been pushy or worried about me getting a job, but I am the type of person that has to have something to do! We have been back from the honeymoon for only two weeks and I am already going stir crazy and getting antsy! I know I drive him crazy by calling him during the day and stopping by the office! I can't wait to put all of this time and energy towards the kids and my career! What a wonderful feeling!

Happy Monday, everyone!

--KPG

I'm Baaaack!

Wow... it has been nearly a month and a half since I last posted, and lots of things have changed since then! First and foremost, Alex and I are now MARRIED!! That now makes me Mrs. Kristen Griffith (although everyone still refers to me as KP, and I'm okay with that!). We had wonderful wedding festivities, a fantastic honeymoon to the Riviera Maya, Mexico, and are not settling into our new home in Memphis. We still have lots to do to get it perfect, but it's getting there! We also just got a new addition to the Griffith family: a Golden Retriever puppy named Charlie! He's adorable (pictures will be up soon!), friendly, loving, and overall just a great puppy. He hasn't given us a bit of problems. I am such a dog person, but only big dogs. I do not like frilly, girly, small dogs. You know the kind I'm referring to: bows in their hair, has to get groomed, just sits there, teacup-sized, wears dog clothes, doesn't go on walks or runs or to the lake or anything fun kinda dogs? Basically, not much of a dog at all! I like big dogs that are energetic and fun: labs, goldens, boxers, etc. Sooooo.... I went to Alex's office on Friday, asked him if we could go look at the golden retriever I found, we did, and now he's part of the family! We took him to the lake with us this weekend, and he absolutely loved it. I'll get pictures soon!

As for the wedding, it went perfectly. We had beautiful weather, great friends and family, and a fabulous ceremony and reception. We danced for a solid 5 hours before the limo came to pick us up! Soooo much fun! There are tons of pictures of Facebook from all of the wedding festivities, but I've included a few here!

{My two grandmothers, my mom, & I at my bridal luncheon}

{The hubby-to-be & I at the rehearsal dinner}

{Mr. and Mrs. Alex Griffith!}

We are so thankful and blessed for such an amazing group of friends and family that were able to come and support us on our wedding day. I had so much fun planning everything, but am so glad that it is over! No more stress, worry, or anxiety over one single day! We are enjoying no longer having a long-distance relationship and our new home.

Speaking of weddings, we have a TON to attend this summer! June 5th was Paul and Bethany's, June 19th was our big day, June 26th was Brody and Claire's (although we were still in Mexico), this past weekend was Chris and Kristin Murphy's in Conway, and next weekend we are going back to Kennett for Alayna and Cody's big day! Whew! I get tired just thinking about it! It will be nice to have a free weekend to spend at home together!

{On our honeymoon!}

Okay, way past my bedtime now! I will try and get more pictures up this week! I'm going to try to get back into my blogging routine after taking the past few weeks off!

Have a great week, readers!

--KPG

Wedding Invites Galore!

Since the wedding is a mere 12 days away and the planning process is nearly over, I thought I would post all of our invitations to all of our wedding events! I am missing the Christmas shower, the Kennett ladies shower, and our wedding program (which obviously cannot be posted yet!), so I will try to get pictures of those up soon to complete the list!

{Our gorgeous wedding invitation. It's perfect: classy, traditional, & simple with our own little flair!}
{The invitation again with all of the pieces: Invite, Reception info card, Response card, & inner & outer envelopes}

{My bridal luncheon invitation. I chose bright, fun colors for this event since everything else is elegant and classic!}

{The Memphis Couples' Shower invitation. Cute, very springy, and so much fun!}

{The Kennett Engagement Party invitation. Can I just say that I LOVE this invite? All I can say is Mrs. Kristin knows me all too well! This is soo something I would have chosen myself!}

{Our super-cute Save-The-Date. We went with a black linen paper with a black and white picture. Our wedding colors, classy, and absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't have been more pleased with our first wedding invite!}

{Now just how cute is this Bachelorette Party invitation?! Mrs. Tina Carter designed this and did such a wonderful job. I didn't want the typical martini glass/polka dot border/pink and purple invite. I wanted something different, and she delivered!}

(Our Rehearsal Dinner invitation. Once again, this fits our traditional, black and white, classy wedding theme. I love it!}

So there you have it, folks. That's the majority of our wedding festivity invites. I will try to get the others posted soon. I am so ready for June 19th to be here I can hardly stand it! Such anticipation!! :)

Alex and I attended the wedding of my wonderful friend, Paul, and his new bride, Bethany, on Saturday. And let me just say it was gorgeous. It was outside at Bethany's home, and had a huge tent for the reception. Beautiful. So needless to say, we are now in the wedding spirit and are ready for our own big day!

Love ya'll!!

KP

I love me some Kennett, MO!

I've never blogged about my amazing hometown, but most of you know how much I love it. It's a tiny little place with not a whole lot to offer in terms of things to do, but I wouldn't trade my childhood here for anything. We have two types of food in Kennett: BB-Q and Mexican. Anything other than that, we head to Jonesboro or Memphis for! But, Kennett BB-Q cannot be beaten.... You Memphricans and Kansas City folks can talk all the smack you want, but just come on down to Kennett and you'll see for yourself! There's also something in the water in Kennett; we are the hometown of Sheryl Crow, David Nail, and Trent Tomlinson. That's right, THREE huge names in music!
So last Tuesday night, Sally and I attended the Trent Tomlinson benefit concert for the Delta Children's Home. Trent and Tracy Lawrence put on a fabulous concert at the Opera House (where my reception is going to be), and they had such a great turnout! Not only was it alot of fun, but the support of this town just amazes me.
Needless to say, I'm loving spending these last few weeks of my single life in Kennett. It's great to spend time with my family and friends, sleep in my "purple room", and enjoy wedding planning!
As far as the wedding goes, we had a WONDERFUL engagement party in Kennett last weekend. There was such a wonderful turnout and the party was a huge success! Instead of gifts, we sent out recipe cards with the invitations and asked each couple to write down their favorite recipe for me to add to my recipe box. I had so much fun reading through the recipes, and will have even more fun making them all in a few weeks!
This weekend is our Bachelor/Bachelorette Party!!!! YEY YEY YEY! Alex and about 16 other boys are going to Vegas, and 15 girls and I are spending the weekend in Memphis! We are so excited! My original plan was to go to Nashville, but the flooding forced us to switch to Memphis! But you know, it's not the place that matters, it's the friends that you're with!
Well, Happy Monday everyone! Have a great week!

--KP

Sweet Summertime!

Ahhh. Summertime. I remember the days when summer consisted of sleeping in, laying out, lifeguarding, the ballpark, and late nights spent with great friends. It's not that I don't enjoy those things now, it's just they are now very rare occasions. Just another part of growing up, I guess. I am now 5 days into summer and the latest I have slept is 8:30, I have worked on our house every single day, I have worked at Carpet Tech each afternoon, and I have yet to sit by a swimming pool. Busy busy!
So Saturday was a big day for me: I graduated college, gave my last hog call as a student, spent the last night in my house, and said goodbye to many great, unforgettable friends. It was a bittersweet, long-awaited, relieving day!

Alex and I before my graduation

(Please refrain from looking at my hair. I am aware that it is insanely long and am getting it taken care of tomorrow!)

I moved the majority of my things to Memphis, and only enough clothes to last the next 5 1/2 weeks to Kennett. What a hassle to separate everything! I am currently in Memphis working on getting our house in order, exchanging wedding gifts, etc.

Alex and I have our final engagement party/ shower on Saturday! Fun times! We have enjoyed our parties so much and know this one will be just as fabulous!

Happy "day before Friday"!!!! :)

Love, KP

5 more days.....

So, I have only 5 days left in the wonderful town of Fayetteville. Sad. That's the only word I know to use to describe the way I'm feeling right now. Don't get me wrong, Memphis is great and I can't wait to start the next chapter of my life (especially with my fabulous fiance, Alex), but I have a strong attachment with Fay, and I honestly did not see myself leaving here after only 4 years. As my current favorite band, Lady Antebellum, says "She couldn't wait to get going, but wasn't quite ready to leave." Couldn't have said it better myself, Lady A.

So I sat in my living room floor and had a little emotional session today. That's right. Just me, my purple sleeping bag, and a Kleenex. After about 5 minutes, I was fine. But I needed those 5 minutes. I had just watched all of my furniture and the majority of my belongings be packed in the back of a big yellow moving truck. You know, the big yellow kind? Ugh. And it's not that I'm sad to be moving on. Believe me, I cannot WAIT to start living the married life with Al. But it's just sickening to see your first house so... empty.

Annnnnyway, that's enough of the sob story! On a MUCH happier note, that dreaded 15-30 page Senior page is finished! And when I say finished, I really mean I have to proofread it, but I'm finished writing and researching. The hard part is behind me. No more learning about imaginary friends (thank goodness, because I was beginning to create one for myself with so much researching about it!). I feel on top of the mountain for defeating that paper.

As for our new house, the granite is installed! I have yet to see the finished product, as I am stuck taking finals this last week, but I'm going nuts just thinking about how awesome it probably looks!

For the wedding.... Not much new going on. Getting response cards is great (keep up the good work, folks!), and looking forward to our engagement party in a couple of weeks. Other than that, we are pretty much finished!

Alex and Carpet Tech, Inc. are opening up a new location in Jackson, MS tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM. Being the wonderful fiance that he is, he drove the big moving truck in the monsoon on Friday to come pick up my furniture (took him 7 hours to make the trip due to the storms), drove the truck back to Memphis this morning and unloaded it, and is leaving for Jackson at 5:00 in the morning to get to Jackson for the opening. How exciting, but how exhausting! I am so excited for them and hope the expansion is well worth all the hard work Alex and the boys have put into it! Good luck, Carpet Tech!

I am doing my best to eat at all of my favorite restaurants this week before Sunday when I leave. Dumb and fattening, I know, but it's just something I need to do for myself. I am a very sentimental person and it makes to cope with the move better, so just let me be, okay!? :) So far, I have checked off: U.S Pizza, Orange Mango, Brenda's Bigger Burger, Mexico Viejo, Common Grounds, Noodles, and Pesto Cafe. Clearly we ate ALOT this weekend!

Well, I hope everyone has a fabulous week and survives finals! Love!