I created a Wedding website! If you want to check it out the address is: www.theknot.com/ourwedding/JessieCaldwell&BradGriffitts
At the moment it is missing lots of details, but it has basic information about me and Brad and the wedding date.
Well, after reading my last blog I realized that I skipped straight from finals to getting engaged! I guess I should recap on all the things that have happened besides meeting an amazing, brilliant, sweet, and extremely wonderful person to marry :D But first I am going to talk about Brad and the wedding plans just for an update...
The wedding is going to be August 9th and we are getting married in the Salt Lake City Temple. We are having a nice dinner after the wedding for close family and friends at the Joseph Smith Building. Brad needs to finish up his summer classes and finals so we will just be in Provo for a few days until he is done and then we will go to Georgia for a reception on the 16th. We are having it at a friend's neighborhood clubhouse that is really cute and that is nestled back in some woods. We are going to make it really pretty with tables and lights on the back deck area. Then me and Brad will be off on our honeymoon in Charleston, North Carolina! We are staying in a condo on an island off the coast. It is so beautiful and we are looking forward to having some delicious seafood and enjoying the beautiful beaches. At the end of our week-long honeymoon we will fly back to Coeur d'alene, Idaho for a small reception there with his family and friends.This past weekend me and Brad, and my sister and brother-in-law went to St. George to go to my cousin's reception and to see our friends Mike and Danielle DeMottte. I also got to try on my wedding dress and it was beautiful. My aunt is going to alter it for me because it was a little too big. She designs wedding gowns and formal dresses and is an amazing seamstress so I know she will do a good job.
So anyways.....
After finals me and my roommates, Becca and Jess, went on a road trip to Wisconsin. The drive is about 24 hours and we had a great time the entire ride there with great music, great food, and great stops along the way! We stayed overnight at a hotel...which was kind of creepy and ghetto much to our surprise. We thought it was a nicer hotel that Becca's mom had mentioned, but turns out it was a different one. But it was tons of fun and we got a good night's rest. We stopped at Little America along the way and got 50 cent ice cream cones which was fun and we got to see lots of open country in Nebraska, Wyoming, Iowa, and Minnesota. Once in Wisconsin we went to an awesome Cheese factory and we went to the Mall of America. The mall is SOO huge and is basically a one-stop for anything you could possibly need...it would take multiple days to visit the stores in the entire mall. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe while we were there and we got to sit under singing monkeys which was quite an experience.
After visiting with Becca's family in Wisconsin for a few days we flew to Georgia to visit my mom and siblings. Jess got to experience a true southern town and she is even now sporting redneck gear via a confederate pride t-shirt. We visited all sorts of places...gone with the wind museum, stone mountain, downtown Kennesaw, and a civil war locomotive museum...it was tons of fun! Amy, my sister, was also in a musical called Lil' Abner and we went to see her perform while we were home. She did a really good job and the musical was really funny. I got to see my old choir teacher Mrs. Gunter, who was one of the directors for the musical. It was perfect weather while we were there and one day we went to the lake where we got extremely burnt...i guess we should have put on more sunscreen, but I have a nice tan now :D
Sunday, the day after I got home from Georgia, Brad proposed to me. It caught completely by surprise! He can be very mischevious...haha...But anyways, we went to church and he told me that the day before he had bought everything for a picnic. I thought that was so sweet :D So, we went on a picnic after church under one of the gazebos up on the pretty pathways by the duck pond on campus. We had some delicious turkey sandwiches, potato salad, chips, and some interesting banana pudding for dessert..haha...it was so beautiful outside and it was all very tasty. Then, we went and laid down on the grass and Brad got a text from our good friend Tiffany who wanted to know if we wanted to come over to eat some cupcakes they just made. Brad had mentioned many times how full he was so I was surprised at how much he wanted to go over and eat the cupcakes, but he is a guy and I knew he could eat more...haha...but I told him we should wait a half hour since we just laid down and we were both full. But then Tiffany said that they were leaving to go to the fireside so Brad said we should go visit Tiffany and get some cupcakes before they left. So, we went over to Tiffany's apartment and Brad knocked and then let us in and that is when I noticed the rose petals on the ground and I was like, "What? Are they throwing a party or something?" But then I noticed the candles, teddy bear, Christmas lights, and fire (a recording of a real fire playing on the TV) and I couldn't believe it! I just stood there dumbstruck and in shock realizing what was about to occur. Brad came over to where I was standing in front of the table with the candles, with my mouth still hanging open, and he told me to look at the bear. I was thinking that maybe the ring was on the bear since he was telling me to look at it so I picked it up and was looking around at it, but found nothing on it. It is a really cute bear he built at Build-a-Bear and it is in a tux with red roses in it's hand. And then Brad told me to look at the birth certificate that came with the bear so I set down the bear (on top of a candle...yeah I was really out of it) and then I picked up the certificate and saw that the bear's name was Will U. Marime. I looked over at Brad who told me that he loved me and that he wanted to be with me forever and make me happy forever and to see my smiling face everyday. Then he got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and asked me to marry him. I quickly grabbed the ring, without really looking at it, and jumped on Brad to give him a big hug and say yes. Then we both looked at the ring, which is extremely beautiful :D It was so sweet and perfect...I love him so much and I cannot wait to get married in August.
So, I have two finals down and three to go! I finished my international development final project as well as my applied anthropology project today! I cannot wait until Wednesday when I will be completely done and off on my road trip :D Me, Becca, and Jess are driving out to Wisconsin and staying with her for two days before me and Jess head out to good ol' Georgia! When we are in Georgia I want to take Jess to see all the great Georgia stuff. We are thinking of going to Stone Mountain, Kennesaw Mountain, and hopefully a trip to Savannah as well. We are leaving right after we are done with finals...
My mom and Amy and James came out last week for their spring break and it was tons of fun! Katie graduated on Thursday from LDS Business College with her bachelor's degree, I am so happy for her! That is such a great accomplishment. Brad and I drove out to see the graduation and my Aunt Elaine came as well. We went to eat at Olive Garden afterwards and it was so nice to have a big family dinner. Brad had to go back to Provo that night to work on projects, but I stayed for the weekend. On Friday, we went to the Hogle Zoo and got to see a white alligator! That was the coolest animal we saw there. Then that evening we went to eat dinner at my Aunt Elaine and Uncle Hal's house. They are so nice and we had a really fun time visiting with them and talking about a lot of hunting, fishing, and meat. Uncle Hal kept making sure I had enough meat to eat and then he ended up giving me the rest of the entire pork roast! He always thinks we don't eat enough :D He is a great guy. Then on Saturday the girls had a good time going on a huge shopping spree! Mom was kind enough to get me a lot of new things I had been needing. She is so sweet to me, I love her so much.
So, basically the big news is that Brad got to meet my family and I have met his now. I loved his whole family...they were so nice and fun! I was so glad to get to meet them. And my whole family loved Brad and basically my mom and sisters have already started planning the wedding. Yeah, I know, what? A wedding? Everything has gone by really fast...But it's true! We are not officially engaged, but we are planning on getting engaged soon :D I am so lucky to have found such an amazing guy who I love so much. We are thinking of having the wedding the end of July or the beginning of August. It is going to be a beautiful summer wedding....
Last night Tiffany came over and we made cookies and watched stardust! We hadn't seen her since the camping trip and so it was fun to hang out with her again! Chris should stop playing with his "weapons" at West Point and come back here :D just kidding it is awesome that he is there, but we all miss him especially breakfast (aka Tiffany). Brad's parents are coming to visit for the weekend and we are going to Brick Oven with them so that should be lots of fun! It is also conference weekend so I am not sure where we are going to watch it, but it will be good to have some relaxing weekend time and to hear from the prophet. Today is Becca's birthday! We bought her some sweet shoes and we are taking her out for ice cream tonight! She is turning twenty...
I decided that I am staying out in Utah for the summer and trying to work. Hopefully I will be able to get a good job on campus or maybe even a couple jobs so I can earn enough money for next year plus Brad is here...so I am not gonna lie and say that that wasn't influential on my decision...I can't wait until it is warm and no more classes! Only one more week of real school I can't wait!
The camping trip was a blast!! The weather was really nice...it was probably close to 70 degrees while we were there so it was excellent weather for hiking! We went to Zion's National Park and the first day we hiked the Emerald Pools, which was a pretty easy hike and the water from the waterfalls felt really nice. Lots of us climbed up a huge rock at the high pool and got pretty wet and cold from sitting up there. We also went and hiked the Temple of Sinawava. It was a really nice easy, level path and we had lots of fun climbing rocks along the way :D I'm pretty sure Chris was having withdrawals having to walk away from the chance to climb so many rocks. We also tried to find the mysterious pencil point sized snails that are only found in Zion's, but alas to no avail....we are not so sure if the park employees were telling the truth or not....The next day, Saturday, we hiked Angel's Landing and that was tons of fun! It was such a beautiful view from the top. We stopped and ate some lunch on the top and then headed back down...it was a good sense of achievement for us all especially those who conquered their fear of heights...the trail is really steep in some parts and it involves a lot of vertical climbing, which made it really for me! That night we were all pretty tired. Tiffany's dad was nice enough to be the chef on the trip and we had some delicious food :D At night it got really cold even though it was hot during the day...we didn't get much sleep, but it was worth it.
Today me, Brad, Chris, and Tiffani and some of her family are going camping at Zion's Park! It should be tons of fun and I will give details when I get back! I made some potato salad for the trip yesterday and I am just looking forward to getting out of the city for a while and getting to spend som fun time hiking and relaxing with Brad.
