P-I-C-N-I-C

The photo collage pretty much says it all:  last night we finally got to use our DELUXE picnic set from Emily!!  We took a Camelbak full of wine and feasted on chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and goat cheese!!  Jimmy was skeptical about the goat cheese, but he loved it!!  The weather was beautiful.  We had so much fun that Jimmy even serenaded me with random song--one of the quirky ways he shows me he loves me! 

After our picnic we came home to homemade APPLE PIE!!  I'm not really a huge fan of apple pie, neither is Jimmy--which was ironic because I thought I was really going out of my way to serve him by making him pie until I learned that neither of us like it--and I know you're not supposed to praise your own cooking--but boy was that pie GOOOO-OOOD!!  I was cooking/baking all afternoon.  I try to clean up the kitchen as I go, but something went awry yesterday.  Here is a pic of the kitchen BEFORE (during all the cooking) and AFTER! 

Tonight is our FIRST EVER FOUNDATIONS GROUP!!!!! WHOOP!!! Can you tell I'm excited?!?!?! :-D

Sunny With a High of 75...

...is not just a catchy Relient K song, but the weather forecast for tomorrow here in Addison!!  

Today was my favorite Sunday since we have been in Dallas.  

The weather was beautiful and this morning we visited WAKE, the junior high ministry at Watermark Community Church.  Middle school worship has DRASTICALLY improved changed since the days of "Waves of Mercy."  Not that repetitive hand motions and a song that gets stuck in your head faster than a Kylie Mynogue anthem are not fun and take me back to my days at Second Baptist youth group...but worship with lyrics that speak pure TRUTH to the hearts of 6-8th graders is refreshing. 

As we stood awkwardly by ourselves at WAKE (something I love about being married--you're never totally ALONE in awkward situations) and hoped for one of the other youth group volunteers to introduce themselves, someone came up to talk to us.  Turns out, the main pastor of the junior high ministry was Jimmy's counselor at Pine Cove camp when he was a 6th grader!! (Long before Jimmy was ever a counselor there!)  SMALL WORLD or what?! I hope he was blessed by seeing one of his old campers pursuing Christ and getting plugged in to disciple students at Watermark.  

To commemorate the beginning of our middle school small groups, (possibly high-school--still praying about where God wants to use us) enjoy some pictures of Jimmy and I in middle school (7-8th grade I think).  

Clockwise from L: John, Jimmy, Josh, Jay 

Cousins Shelby, Beth Ann, Courtney

Windows open.  Fall breeze.  Indoor picnic after a round of frisbee.  Fellowship with my husband.  What a wonderful, fantastic, SUPER BLESSED day!! 

Happy Fall!

I. LOVE. SEASONS.  I love fall.  I love decorating for fall.  Really, I love decorating for every holiday and season, but something about the colors of fall makes my heart smile extra large!  ("Love of Holidays" must be a dominant gene because I know I got that trait from my mother!)  On my flight from Houston to Dallas, I checked 2 ginormous suitcases, both of which were FULL of pumpkins and holiday decorations.  Seriously-the only clothes I packed were my new interview outfits, the rest are being mailed because I thought it was more pertinent to bring home the pumpkins.  Obsessed? Maybe. 

I had a wonderful Houston visit.  It feels so foreign to say that I visited Houston.  Sometimes I have to remind myself (more like Jimmy reminds me) that we live in Dallas now.  The highlights were dinner with my parents at my favorite restaurant, thrift-store hunting with my mom, lunch with my mother-in-love, and hanging out with my dad and sister.  Fun as it was, I MISSED me some Jimmy.  

Saturday night we went to Oktoberfest.  We really had no option, because it was right outside of our house.  The street in front of our apartment was closed due to the festivities.  Food. Beer. Rollercoasters. Dancing.  Yodeling.  Keg-bowling.  By the time we got home we were exploding with German pride.  

It's true what they say...

Absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Tuesday morning I flew to Houston to visit my family. I've had a great time. More on that later!

For now...I'm just really missing my husband. This is the longest we've been apart since we got married. I can't wait until tomorrow at 3 o'clock when I step off the plane and into his arms! [EDIT: I just realized how corny that sounded!!] (after going through security, baggage claim and the usual airport intricacies...)

I love you, amazing incredibly handsome and cute and funny and smart, actually quite brilliant, husband whom I miss more than I did when I left my blankie in a hotel in South Dakota when I was 4!! Love you!

Off-Kilter

We love where we live except for the fact that you are not allowed to have a grill.  This was extremely disappointing to us because we love grilling! Our apartment does, however, provide community grills for people to use.  So...Saturday night we grilled out at our apartment for the first time! 

We may or may not have stolen someone's already used coals...which may or may not have been cooler than we realized and possibly made it more difficult to judge whether or not our meat was fully cooked.  We also tried grilling a tomato and onions, and realized that I am an incredibly poor steak-picker-outer because the meat was mostly fat.  It may not have been a success- but at least we TRIED!!

During our meal, Jimmy said, "I'm glad our meal turned out a little off-kilter.  If our parents had been cooking this meal, it would have turned out perfectly...but we are learning and doing on our own and it's not good for everything to work out the way you plan."  

Wise man.

"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." -Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)

Loyalty

I love 3-day weekends!!  I especially loved this past weekend because I got to see my dear friend EMILY twice!! ...and in 2 different cities! Here she is in front of her cute new house in Austin!

We met up with her in Arlington on Saturday for dinner at my all-time, absolute, in-any-weather, most deliciously FAVORITE restaurant ever - CHUY'S - then for dessert at Pinkberry!!   Pinkberry in Texas = a good thing!  The first time I tasted the yummy goodness was on me and Emily's trip to Los Angeles over a year ago!  Obviously, I had to include the flashback pic next to the remake!

Sunday after church, the Jimster and I headed to San Marcos for some shopping at the outlets and to visit Jimmy's sister Lisa.  We had so much fun floating the river and hanging out at her apartment!  Thanks for having us Lisa! :)  On our way home we stopped in Austin to see  Emily at her cute new house in Hyde Park!!  I was so jealous of all the Chacos, bike-riding, and vintage living we saw.

Lately I have learned so much about what it means to be a loyal friend and how richly true friendship can bless your life.  Emily makes it so easy to be her friend.  She gets what it means to live the gospel and give grace abundantly.  I want to be that kind of friend.  I want to exude truth and mercy, to love with abandon and not be addicted to myself.

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. -Matthew 16:24


A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. -Proverbs 18: 24

Today's Letters- Griffin Style

I was super excited to discover my new FAVORITE blog, Today's Letters, and even more excited to learn that this cute couple resides in Dallas and is going to be leading a FOUNDATION GROUP at Watermark this fall!! I keep thinking, "How AWESOME would life be if they were our Foundation Group leaders," but God keeps reminding me that His plan for our foundation group is better than mine could ever be.  The rest of today's post will follow in the format of Today's Letters:

Dear Mr. Griffin, Yesterday we went to the Dallas Cowboys' game with my cousin and his fiancée.  It was nice of you to help me pick up all the souvenir cups we could find on the way out!  Thank you for caring about silly things that are important to me.  Dear beautiful day, you make me want to go play outside.  Why do you have to be so hot? Thank you for being a cool 84 degrees! Dear Daniel King, thanks for coming to hang out and eat KING Ranch Chicken with us earlier this week.  It reminded me of the good 'ole days when I would cook for the boys on Trace Meadows.  Dear Today's Letters, Thanks for writing such a cute blog.  I promise I won't always jack your style.  Dear husband, Thank you for writing me such a beautiful note on our wedding day.  I re-read it this morning and it made me cry, again.  I am so grateful to be your wife.  I love you.
Love, Mrs.G

Addison "ATHLETIC" Club?

Because we technically live in a tiny little town in the middle of Dallas called Addison, which consists of an airport, some apartments and lots of restaurants, we have access to this lovely Addison Athletic Club for a one-time fee of only $10.  Yup, just $10.  Not a monthly fee of ten dollars, just ONE TIME! How awesome is that?!  And it's really nice too!!  

Well, the other day we were playing a fun game of racquetball.  It wasn't as much a game as it was a racquetball lesson for me, but anywhoo- in the midst of our racquetball-ing, Jimmy (very sweetly) said this: "Would you be offended if I helped you with some hand-eye coordination drills?"

There I was thinking, "Man--I'm getting pretty good at this racquetball stuff," when Jimmy was thinking, "How do I tell her she's no good...?"  haha!  Thankfully I had a lifetime of clumsiness and failed athletic attempts to prepare me for such a moment and was able to take it light-heartedly.

But after my agility training, weight-training, and hand-eye coordination training . . .
you better watch out because I just may have some SERIOUS racquetball skills!!

Honeymoon!

As promised, a post about our honeymoon!!  We had so much fun in the Cayman Islands.  God was faithful and even though it wasn't right after the wedding, our vacation really did bless our marriage!  The highlights were the AMAZING snorkeling and kissing the stingrays at Stingray City!! We should have gone scuba diving, but instead we took a submarine ride at night.  We did not see a whole lot of underwater life.  That's not something we'd do again next time we're in Cayman.  Also, we had a beautiful dinner on the water at The Wharf restaurant.  A harpist actually came and played at our table and we got to feet these huuuge fish called Tarpon that were swimming around the water below us.  It was really special!  I took ~700 pictures while we were there, but narrowed it down to the top 13 for the blog! 

Practicing our snorkel skills at the Griffins pool before we left!

 

Ready to leave for the airport at 4:30 AM and on the airplane!! 

Private beach at Plantana, the condos where we stayed! 

Our trip to Stingray City! 

We loved walking on the beach at sunset!  

Our parasailing adventure!! 

The only reason I included this picture on here is to mention this little tidbit I noticed about Dallas: NO ONE WEARS CHACOS!!!  Because of our Chaco wearing in Cayman, we met a nice family from Austin.  If you wear Chacos in Dallas people look at you funny.  This makes me so sad because my signature style (or what I like to think of my style) is Chacos and pearls.  The only person who appreciates my choice of footwear here in Dallas is my friend Ruth.  But she recently went back to College Station to be with my other Chaco-wearing friends.