Congrats to Marcus and Julie!

Mark and Julie Whitehead welcomed their sweet baby girl, Brylee Faith into the world today! Check out their blog here for pictures :)

Happy Halloween!

I hope you guys have had a fun and festive day! I will have to say that this year I have not been as in the spirit as normal... no costume, no carving a pumpkin and no Halloween party. I think it is because I am in that in between age right now where I am not in college or high school anymore so therefore no dress up for school and I do not have any kids yet to dress up either so therefore I am right in between. Plus the fact that it has completely caught me by surprise that today is really the last day of October! I still feel like it is just now September ha! For work I did decide to make some cookies... my two favorites-
ORANGE and





candy corn!

Thank you to everyone who played my candy quiz game! I am proud to announce that Missy Davis is our winner! Congrats Missy... I will send you your prize soon! Tabitha, Kristy, Adrienne and Heather you all just missed one :( Sorry girls!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Lindsey

Let's play a game...

With Halloween being tomorrow... I definitely can say I have candy on the brain :) I thought it would be fun to have everyone take the candy quiz. Please email me your answers to lgriffi2@gmail.com and I will send the winner a special monogrammed prize!!!

Here are the clues, now you guess what candy:

1. A famous trio
2. A galaxy
3. Cant hold onto anything
4. Twin Letters
5. To chuckle to oneself
6. Before 1
7. A famous baseball player
8. A worker's favorite day of the week
9. An Indian burial ground
10. A joy to be around
11. A rainbow of colors
12. They can save your life
13. A planet
14. What do you call this
15. Superman's human name
16. A famous New York street
17. these tamalies are great
18. don't be a sourhead

Neighborhood cookout and the pumpkin gospel

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This weekend we had a cookout for our neighborhood. This was brought upon by the heart of my sweet friend Jordan. God had given her the desire to minister to the neighborhood where we both lived. There are seminary apartments as well as both seminary and non-seminary families in the houses together in Flaherty Farms. We are so fortunate to also have a nice park right behind our neighborhood, which was the perfect place for this event. We had hamburgers and hotdogs, lots of fun fellowship and also carved pumpkins. I am so thankful for Jordan's desire to share the "pumpkin gospel" with our neighbors. She presented it in such a great way that would reach both children and adults. "What is the pumpkin gospel" you might ask? Well I have included a short clip in the slideshow but can also tell you that I had loved seeing the gospel explained in this great way. "God loves us all so much that He wants to clean out all of our not so good insides and place His light of the Holy Spirit inside of us....." Jordan and Michael you guys did amazing with this and I was so grateful to be a part of it. What a great day!

Major and Maddie

This is a sweet shot I caught of the soon to be mom and dad. They are definitely in love.. always right beside one another no matter what! Isnt it just too sweet :) Maddie will be due in less than 3 weeks and the puppies will be ready to sell just before Christmas. If you know anyone interested in labs please send tell them to email me at lgriffi2@gmail.com or check out our website at www.8labs.blogspot.com

Dress up days...

First of all I cannot believe it is already time for Halloween. I just realized last night that I do not have a pumpkin yet or anything.. which is very unusual for me since I am normally always very festive. Anyways, I am dressing up in a costume tonight for an evening of social dancing with the girls and as I was trying to figure out what to be (which I still have no clue by the way), I thought back to my man days of dress up. I actually LOVE to dress up and did it quite often in college. Here I am with the old Enterprise crew last year. Somehow I ended up being Ricky Bobby the race car driver ha... dont ask!Here is one of the many dress up parties my girlfriends and I went to. The theme was "Ghetto Fab" :)

Here we are for our "Safari" Date party

My friend Monica and her boyfriend Rob always had the best outfits ha! The monkey and her Chiquita banana :)

Here I am at MDA camp dressing up for skit night as a "dude"

Sometimes we dressed up just for fun for whatever holiday it was... lots of green for St. Patrick's Day!

This date party was "Dynamic Duos" where you and your date had to dress up as a pair. Here we have a frat guy, cop, prom queen, "Hamburgerlar ", and Casey Clausen.

Here are JR and I as prom queen and prom king. What a dynamic duo we make :)

And there was always the infamous "Mad Plaid" date party every year where you had to find as much plaid as possible and wear it!

Next year I hope to try and make my own costume... I pretty much just let it sneak up on me this year and have not been able to prepare anything! I am sure I can pull off the TN fan or cowgirl though with no problem if I cant find anything else ha!

PS. Say a little prayer for JR, Dad and Mason. Right now they are beginning their 30 mile hike in the Smokey Mountains!

Happy Birthday Mamaw Ann!

Today is my Mamaw Ann's birthday. She is my dad's mother and I credit her for my crafty hand instincts. She has taught me how to sew and I remember as a little girl watching her make anything she wanted with her machine and being SO amazed :) She is also an excellent cook... oh what I would not do for her homemade biscuits!!! I am so thankful to have her in my life. Mamaw I love you and I hope you have a wonderful day!

The realities of life....

Today I received 2 emails from Liz that truly hit home with me. The first one was from her good friend Damien (who I have posted about before) that tours with Big and Rich, the country music band. They are currently in Sudan ministering to the people there and their update truly reminded me of how blessed I am. I remember when I was in Africa myself a couple of years ago, I had never really known until that moment how lucky I was. Living in the US we tend to take so many of the basic necessities for granted. I have never struggled to have food when i want it, I have never had to walk 3 hours to school, I have never seen a loved one die from aids, I have never had to battle for my own freedom, I have never been scared I would get malaria, I have never not had clothes on my back or a place of shelter.. and yet I have never been so genuinely happy about life as the people in Africa and other countries that experience these things every single day.

Letter From Big Kenny In Sudan

(picture attached)

Here's letter from Big Kenny Alphin of Big & Rich. He and his wife are in the Sudan taking food and supplies to the people there. Big Kenny donated his royalties from "Last Dollar (Fly Away)", which he wrote for Tim McGraw.

Here's his letter:

"The past 24 hours in the village of Akon have been the most incredible of my life. We were greeted on the runway by over 500 singing children and community members and leaders. David (Physician and friend David Marks is coordinating medical supply aid with Dr Luka Deng on the ground in Sudan) met with over 75 patients today and the line will be longer tomorrow as word spreads. From the school under trees, the clinic with not more than a roof and a table, to a public meeting where they all sang and expressed there appreciation of our visit and urgent needs, this trip has already surpassed my expectations.

Some thirty of the patients seen today had malaria. Most of them had to wade across rivers to come to school. Some walk three hours each way to get here. I've never in my life seen a more impoverished situation nor have I ever met more genuinely happy and appreciative people. They have fought for over 20 years for their basic freedoms, now they have to fight for their lives, the basic necessities of food, water, education and healthcare. Their main concern is to save their children. The aid we were able to bring will no doubt save lives.

We were able to arrive with all 20 crates of aid we brought from the US in addition to picking up a couple hundred survival kits from CSI for returning refugees. The trip has no doubt encouraged us all to take responsibility to help and improve humankind. A world with out prejudice!! Love will lead the way, BK and the Team Akon






The 2nd email was another very sad one to receive. As many of you know, JR and I were very involved in MDA camps in the summers of high school and college. We developed a wonderful camp family while we were there (hence Liz, Constance and many others!) and still keep up with everyone that we had met there. One of our campers passed away Sunday. His name was Drew and he was 18 years old. I can truly say that I had never met someone with as much wisdom and wit for his age. He was definitely full of life and a real firecracker that kept all of the counselor's on our toes for sure!!! I am so thankful that Drew is now dancing in Heaven with Jesus no doubt and will no longer have to be held back with the sickness of MD. I am sad too that his life was so short, but know that God used him to make a huge impact on myself and everyone else that came in contact with him. He never let MD hold him back or slow him down...

Here Drew is doing his favorite.. bustin a move with Dusty and JR :)

Happy Birthday Keyona!

Today Keyona is 6 years old! She is my precious little God-daughter who is the daughter of my long-time childhood friend Rachelle Coaker. Keyona has been so fun to watch grow up and I am so thankful she was also able play a special part in our wedding as well. Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

My sweetie...

Last night I got home at 8:30pm to find my husband sitting out in our driveway in the rocking chair. After work I had played basketball with some girlfriends and then went to dinner with Leigh at Chili's for our once a month outing together. Anyways, when I got home I just thought that JR was outside enjoying the nice evening weather and reading under the stars (he has done this plenty of times before). But no... pretty sure he had left his keys and his phone at work and was LOCKED OUT of the house!!! I started laughing hysterically and asked him why in the world he did not call me from the neighbors house, or even walk back to the gym where I was to get my keys (it is only about 1 1/2 to the school from our house). He said he just did not interrupt me from my girl's night and that he needed to get some reading done anyways.. so he was just fine sitting outside. I continued to laugh really hard and could not get over the fact that he was perfectly content just being outside with NO FOOD for 3 1/2 hours. Needless to say I felt awful about it too but overall it gave us something to laugh about all night. I swear that man continues to shock me more and more each day haha! I am surprised at how different we are sometimes but I know that God made it that way so that we would always be able to learn from each other and have plenty of humor in our marriage. You better believe if I was locked out of the house for even 10 minutes I would have been pitching a fit and would have made sure he came home to let me in haha! Maybe I am just too selfish.... or maybe I am just smart :) Love you sweetie and thank you for your unselfishness! I promise to never lock you out again!!!

A visit from Mimi, Potts and Rach

This weekend we got a special visit from Mimi, Potts and Rachel. We watched the UT game... yea super bummer that we lost, went shopping, cooked out and played board games on Saturday then went to church, had lunch and toured the campus today. It was definitely a short visit but worth it to see them. We hope they will come back soon!!!

Rachel, me, Mimi and Potts

Stealey Hall- administrative building

Binkley Chapel

My sweet sister and I and our typical pose together :)

A double date

Friday night JR and I met Trea and Melissa at Champps for a double date! We were so excited to meet Melissa for the first time.. she was just precious! We immediately became friends of course :) We had such a wonderful waiter as well... Mr. Jacob Green himself so it was a great night. JR, Trea and Jacob played softball together this summer and we all became great friends from there. Ever since then we have hung out at school and enjoyed just getting to know each other. Now we are so blessed to have finally met Trea's special girl too!!!

Me and Melissa

Trea, Jacob and JR

The whole crew

New Hair

before

after

It was time for something new so I called on my sweet friend Leigh and she worked her magic :)

Thanks Leigh... I love it!!!

Happy Birthday Amy!!

Today is Amy Alexander Muesch's birthday. Amy and I are great friends from college, where we met in Phi Mu. She and her husband Tyler live in Nashville, TN where she is a nurse. I hope you have a great day Amy :) Love you!

Raymond on the news!

Last Friday my uncle Scott, aunt Patty and cousin Raymond were on the news. It is so sweet because they tell the story of adopting Raymond into the family. God truly blessed all of us by bringing him into our lives. He definitely is full of life and energy and constantly reminds me of how no matter what your circumstance you should rejoice in the Lord and live life to the fullest. Ray no doubt does that... always smiling and making the most of his time with others. I dont think he has ever met a stranger; like Patty talks about in the video he also jumped straight into my arms the first time we met as well. I love my little Ray :) Watch the clip at Volunteer TV Click on "Coach Scott Meadows Priceless Moment".

Happy Birthday Mimi!

How on earth do i even attempt to explain what this woman means to me? She is not only my grandmother but also my best friend. She has loved me more than I deserve for my entire life. I cannot recall a single day of my life that she has not called "just because" to tell me that she loves me. She is that grandmother who is always there... she is that grandmother that always cares. I am excited to say that her one birthday wish was for Potts to bring her up here to see JR and I, so they are coming this weekend.. YAY! Mimi I love you so much and hope you have a WONDERFUL day :)

Another Happy Birthday and It's a BOY!

Today is JR and I's Aunt Stacy's birthday too! Stacy is JR's mother, Reba's sister. She lives in Woodstock, GA. This picture is of her and my sister-in-law Leann at her wedding in March 06. We also received the news from Leann and JC last night that they are expecting a little boy in March! They found out yesterday and plan to name him Jonathan Tristan.

Fun at the Corn Maze

This weekend we went to the Corn Maze with the Graham's. The weather was awesome b/c it finally felt like Fall :) This corn maze was not haunted, thank goodness! However it was REALLY big and took us over 1 1/2 hrs to get out of. We laughed b/c there were kids who said they were able to get out in like 45 minutes ha.

This is their dog Louie in his Halloween costume. Isnt he cute? :)

Can you really live out all the rules of the Bible?

Yesterday a friend of mine pointed out this video to me that she had seen on the Today Show. It was very intriguing to me as she explained there was a man who decided to try to live out every single "rule" that had been stated in the Bible for an entire year. Watch the video and you will see a man who was seeking to know that if it could really be done and how it would change his life.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21186291/


After watching it I immediately realized the importance of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives. How could this man read the Bible every day and study the Word to find out everything he could about it and still not get how much he needed Jesus? He was very honest in his interview with Matt Lauer stating that trying to live by the rules of even the 10 commandments was impossible by on his own. The world we live in is so easy to tell us that we can make these so called "rules" into whatever we chose to fit our life the best. I am no biblical scholar but after watching this it truly makes me want to shake this man and say, "What is wrong with you!" Instead God pointed me to the reality and importance of the Holy Spirit and that no matter how much a man seeks after Him, unless he accepts Him and the Holy Spirit takes over his life, he will never understand. How thankful I am that God chose to die for me, live in me and reveal Himself to me every day.

Look alikes

I had to join in on Darby and Lacy's look alike fun! People always say I look just like my mom but I guess I have some Griffin in me too :)

Can we say boredom?

I know, I know... just go along with me please. It has been a long boring week at work and it is only Wednesday!!! :(

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
My mom liked Lindsey and Christen came from my dad Chris :)

2. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
No

3. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I could only dream of being friends with me!

4. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
Never

5. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS
No, lost those when I was younger I think.

6. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Only if someone was threatening to vomit on me if I didn't.

7. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Smart Start!

8. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
The only shoes that I own that are tied are my tennies and they never come untied :)

9. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
sometimes

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Sweet Cream with Strawberries from Marble Slab

11. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Hmmmm, that's a tough one. Their eyes probably. You can tell a lot by a person's eyes.

12. RED OR PINK?
Tough.. but RED

13. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
Cant answer that b/c I miss too many :(

14. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
Oh yes please! I don't get nearly enough mail these days!

15. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
red skirt and black shoes

16. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE ?
sandwich and chips

17. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Pandora Radio

18. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Go Big Orange :)

19. FAVORITE SMELLS?
home cooked meal

20. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
a student asking about chapel.. go figure

22. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
COLLEGE FOOTBALL

23. HAIR COLOR?
Bleach Blonde

24. EYE COLOR?
Blue

25. FAVORITE FOOD?
That's a tough one - I like it all :)

26. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Give me a happy ending every time.

27. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Minority Report

28. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
black

29. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer!

30. HUGS OR KISSES?
Kisses

Childhood Pictures

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This past weekend I was visiting my Mamaw Ann and we started going through a bunch of old pictures that she had saved. She was so sweet to give some to me and I have made a slideshow out of my favorite ones. Yes some of them could probably be used as some major blackmail, cmon what was I thinking back then.. but hey it is in the past and all you can do is smile now right?!? :) And of course I found some of my cute little brothers too that I just had to include... Tyler and Mason please dont kill me!!!

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Oh what a fun weekend to celebrate a VICTORY over Georgia!!! Man I am telling you what I would have never guessed it would have went in our favor that much.. but hey I knew I still believed :) We had a great game day hanging out with old college friends.

These are my guys and gals friends that used to always go to the games together. Our nickname in college was the "Saunches and Saunchitas" ha.. yea dont ask b/c i am not even sure myself, but hey we made lots of memories I know that :)

Me, Adrienne, Crystal and Jenn

showing off our T's

TN girls are always ready for football! We used to all play intramurals together :)
The Bro and I

Haley, Crystal and I

Gracie and Haley

isnt her outfit the cutest :)

The Isham's and the Geabhart's

Crystal and I

The whole family is in orange!
Meg, Sara, me, Crystal and Alicia

Man that looks so pretty doesnt it?

We visited the Vol Navy after the game so we could see the Graham's

Elizabeth and I

Me, Emily (with Baby Luke) and Elizabeth