Happy Birthday Papa

Today my Papa turns 89!! He is a retired preacher in Memphis and I was so lucky to have him marry me and Ryan. He is such a strong man and an amazing example. I am so lucky to have him and Nana in my life.

Love you Papa so much!

My Bridesmaid Luncheon

I know I am 7 months late, but I wanted to share the pictures from my bridesmaid luncheon the day before my wedding.

My aunt and grandmother hosted it at the Springdale Country Club for us and it was beautiful. It was a great way to thank my friends and family for being a part of my day.

The room. My mom, aunt and grandmother decorated the tables and they looked great!

My place setting and menu

I loved the centerpieces. Limes and flowers - so simple and gorgeous

Me and my mom and MIL

All my bridesmaids. I love them and they truely made my wedding special! Front row sorority squat! yes! Ryan's grandmother, me and my grandmother

The Hostesses

This was a great way to kick off the wedding weekend and I am so thankful for everybody that made it happen!

Happy Birthday Jon David!

Today is my little brother's birthday and I wanted to give a shout out. He is the goofiest kid I know but also the most loving. I love you JD! I hope 24 is your best year yet!

Cheering on the Farmington Cardinals together (terrible picture of me by the way but really cute of him)

Harding University graduation - all grown up!
Dancing with both my brothers at my wedding.

New Family Additions

In my blogging hiatus, I missed 2 very special announcements. Remember back in March when I talked about not-so-patiently awaiting the new arrivals in our family? Well both my cousins' had their babies and they are so much fun!

Robert "Kenan" Smith arrived in August and I got to meet him for the first time at Christmas. He and his mom and dad live in Knoxville, Tenn. He is so sweet and let me hold him a bunch. Here is his 5-month picture. I just love those cheeks!

Caroline Gray Harriman arrived in October and I was very excited to be at the hospital for her birth. I arrived around 6 p.m. after work and she was here by 6:30! She came very quickly. She also is so sweet and loving. While I was at the hospital, I was having flashbacks of when her big brother Hudson was born just 2 years earlier. Nathan and Sarah taught Hudson how to sing "Sweet Caroline" and they played it in the room after she was born.

Christmas Happenings

Below are some pictures from the Holiday season, our first as the Pettigrews. I didn't get many at all but there were a few.

First, we went to the lighting of the square. I love these lights and I have never been to the actual lighting ceremony so we got to go this year. Ryan even left in the middle of a Hog game to take me. He is a great husband!

To all you Deltas, yes I am weaing my Tri Delt Fleece. Don't judge - I love that thing!

On Christmas Eve we were at my parents' house. Here is a picture of my shorter hair too.

We were at the Pettigrew house on Christmas morning. At one point we looked over and all three dogs were sitting by the presents. So cute!If you ever need a gift idea for the Pettigrew boys, just go straight to Cabelas. I laughed so hard when I saw those presents pile up in front of Ryan. His parents just put a stick on bow on the boxes his presents were delivered in. They know their son all too well.

I was very blessed this year and I hope everybody had a great Christmas. Happy New Year!

The Married Life

I have neglected my blog for the past few months just because I feel like, since our wedding, there hasn't been much to tell. Ryan and I are settling into our life as a married couple so I thought I would share my thoughts on that. Can you believe we have been married 6 months and 4 days? I can't. We got our wedding video in the mail this week and as I watched it, I kept thinking, was that really half a year ago?

Overall, married life has been great. As I expected, and as everybody told me, there have been a few bumps in the road but nothing too serious. We have fought more in the 6 months we have been married than in the past 3 and 1/2 years we were dating. I was told that was normal and haven't called in for counseling just yet :)

Ryan and I have gotten in a routine: we carpool to work (our offices are right across the street from each other), come home, cook dinner, play with our doggies, watch our favorite TV shows together and then go to sleep. As mundane as it sounds, I love every minute of it.

I have got to admit to something. Being the independent person I am, I was very nervous that I would get "tired" of Ryan being at my house everyday after we were married. I am a person that loves my alone time but I soon came to realize, that was the furthest thing from the truth. I love ridding to work with him in the mornings, I love coming home with him at night and I love falling asleep in his arms. When I don't get those times, I get sad and wish he was there.

Our fall was full of our favorite thing - football. We cheered our Hogs onto a #6 finish and watched as my Dad and brother's team won all the way to the semi-finals in state - the first time since 1989. I have never been a prouder daughter and sister.

This fall we also made the commitment to our church. Ryan was asked to be a Deacon and I am going to prepare communion on Sunday mornings. We both feel so lucky to have found a place that we both love and can worship God. This was important to us and God knew exactly where to send us.

Did I mention I cut 8 inches off my hair! That was a shocker. But I digress...

The holidays were hard for me this year and it was the first time ever that I have taken my Christmas tree down before New Year's Day. I was just ready to move on to 2012.

Around this time we started making our life plan together which was very exciting. We set financial goals for ourselves and made timelines for other things that we hope to accomplish.

I know marrige will never be easy but I do know marriage is a partnership and that I found the best partner possible. As we begin 2012, I am so excited to see what God will bless us with. Ryan, I love you forever and ever!

Below are some pictures of our 6 months together. And again, I hope to be blogging more. We will see if that happens :)

First Hog game of the seaon. WPS!

Cheering on the Cardinals at a FHS playoff game. Far right is Spencer's girlfriend Lyndsey. LOVE her!

Halloween - A witch and my black cat

I made him take me to the Washington County Fair. Let me just say, it's not what it use to be.

Collin's Beautiful wedding. I was so honored to be a Matron of Honor!

Ryan hunting with is Dad and Brother

Christmas Day with the Pettigrews

Look What We Just Did....

Family Wedding Shower

We had our second wedding shower on Saturday with our families around the pool with Mexican food - perfection! Most of our extended families got to meet each other and we had a blast introducing them. Family is so important to both Ryan and I so we are excited anytime both are all together. A big thank you to our families for coming and for the amazing kitchen gifts. We LOVE you!

Wedding Nightmare #3

Last night I dreamt that when I went to sleep I had 7 weeks until the wedding but when I woke up it was the day before the wedding. I had incidently slept through 7 weeks. We had missed our last marriage counseling session and the walk-through with the pastor, I didn't make my make-up appointment therefore nobody would do it, the guys didn't have tuxes, we didn't plan a rehersal dinner and I hadn't chosen the ceremony music.

Can you tell these are all on my current to do list.

To make it even worse - it was one of those nightmares when I would wake up and calm myself down but then when I fell asleep I was right back where I left off. I am pretty sure that happened three times.

I woke up this morning drenched in sweat. Needless to say, I got no sleep last night!

Can you believe it is less than 2 months! Yikes!!

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Today my baby brother turns 23! I can't believe it!!! Love you bubba and hope you have a great day.

Get Ryan Out of Jail!

Ryan is going to "Jail" on April 6th and won't be able to leave until his "bail" of $1,600 is met. Help him get out (I really need my fiance by July 2)!

Ryan was chosen as a jailbird by the MDA of Fayetteville. By making a tax-deductable donation by clicking here, you will get Ryan out of jail and help many who suffer with Muscular Dystrophy.

This is a great cause and I am so proud of Ryan for taking on this responsibility. If you have any questions or would like to donate, please contact me or visit here.

Thanks again!

Babies, Babies, Babies

Am I am crazy or did EVERYBODY get baby fever all of a sudden?? It might just be the stage of life I am in but I mean I feel like we are in another baby boom. I love it and I love babies - but none for me anytime soon!!

I have 2 cousins on different sides of my family who are pregnant.Whitney and Jared live in Knoxville and are due in August. I was with Whitney for almost a week over Christmas break and never knew it. They didn't have their doctor's appointment confirming it until a week later so they called us over New Year's to let us know the good news. This is Whitney and Jared's first and the first grandbaby for this side of our family. Whitney will be handing out programs at my wedding so you will get an upclose and personal view of her belly :)

Nathan and Sarah are expecting their second due in October! They have this handsome little man Hudson and his gender was a suprise until the day he was born. I asked Sarah if they were going to find out the sex of this baby and she said YES! The Harrimans live in Fayetteville so I am excited I get to see this baby grow too.

One of my good friends Jeni and her hubby Sam are due in August. Jeni called me the day after I heard about my cousin Whitney. Jeni is a bridesmaid in my wedding so she is going to be good and big come July. When she called me she said "Don't worry Meredith, when I ordered my bridesmaids dress I thought I was pregnant so I ordered it way too big" She is so cute and I can only imagine the cutest pregnant lady ever!

Ryan and I have 2 good couple friends who are both due in April - Tim and Carma Meitzen and Stephen and Kristin Butler. Tim and Ryan work together so it is really funny hearing the pregnancy stories from Tim's side. Stephen was the guy who picked up my engagement ring in Searcy and delivered it to Ryan. The bad thing is that Carma and Kristin have different doctors at different hospitals so they better not go into labor on the same day - that could be tricky for visitation. They are both having boys so I am sure they will grow up to be little buddies - Whitt Meitzen and Eli Butler.

Not only do I have several family members and friends pregnant, I also know of FOUR, yes FOUR, girls I graduated high school with who are all due in July and another who just delivered a baby girl in February! Whatever was in the water in November was caught by the FHS class of '03.

Now this one makes me feel old and behind the times. Two of the girls who were in my Gamma Chi group during rush of 2006 are now pregnant. They are 3 years younger than me!

I guess I have moved out of the wedding gift stage and into the baby gift department. Too bad there isn't a Bed Bath and Beyond for Babies!

I only wonder now who will be next. I have my guesses but I will keep them to myself for now. I ask that you pray for all of these couples and their precious bundles of joy as they grow. Pray for health and for uneventful deliveries. I love you all and can't wait to meet your new additions!

Oh and by the way - any of you preggos who are having a girl - I give you full permission to name her Meredith.

Katy Perry Likes My Cousin

For the last couple of weeks I have heard several people talk about this YouTube video that some University of Arkansas guys made to the Katy Perry song Fireworks. I heard about it again today so I had to find it and watch it for myself. The video started playing and I thought the house looked familiar. Then about 30 seconds into I see my cousin!!! The guys that made the video were my cousin and his roommmates. Trent is the 4th guy on the video in the gray hoodie. Katy Perry even commented on it on her Facebook page. Click here to watch the video and see an article by the Huffington Post. The vidoe has over 350,000 views, 15,000 "likes" on Facebook and more than 2,000 comments on Katy Perry's page. Looks like we have a celebrity in the family now. Way to go Trent!

All Hail the King and Queen

On Saturday my grandparents were named the King and Queen of their retirement community at the Valentine's Day party. They were so excited to tell us about it and I am so proud of them. They basically run that joint and it is about time they get recognition for all of their hard work. I love you tons Nana and Papa and CONGRATULATIONS!

The Fight for Leah

As most of you know, my cousin Leah died in 2005 due to a complications from child birth. These complications could have been avoided if she was given the proper medical care, but sadly she did not.

For the past 10 days, a trial was taking place in Washington County for a lawsuit that our family filed against the Parkhill Clinic doctors. Without going into too much details, Leah suffered from high blood pressure at the end of her pregnancy, was not admitted for delivery and finally, when she was admited 3 days later and after almost 15 hours of labor, gave birth to Kinly Diane. Leah was then discharged from Willow Creek without ever beening seen by a doctor. Two days later she collapsed and never regained consciousnes.

For the past 10 days our family was in the courtroom reliving the nightmare of her death. We cried, we laughed and were holding onto hope for justice. Yesterday the verdict was announced and it was not in our favor.

As you can imagine we were devestated but the family put up a good fight. I wanted to thank everybody who was sending prayers up for us. Now all we can do is make a plea to every expecting mother in Northwest Arkansas to carefully consider their doctors. Do your research and know the history of your doctor. Oh and by the way, Leah's doctor was Robert Hix. We do not want this happening to any other family.

Leah, I love you so much and miss you terribly, especially now that I am planning my wedding. Just like I was a bridesmaid in your wedding, you would have been one in mine. Kinley is growing up to be just like her mama- sassy as ever. We love her and are so blessed to have a living piece of you with us. I can't wait to see you again someday and hope you are having a very Merry Christmas with the angels!

A Day at the Farm

On Halloween Day Ryan, his parents and I went to the family farm that is just outside Eureka Springs. I had only been there once before this day but I have to say this time was much better. This is one of Ryan's favorite places. They have 160 acres that they camp and hunt on. Their whole family loves it and I know I will be spending many days there.

My Studly FianceMy first tractor ride - I am sitting on Ryan's lap - ha how redneck can we get?

We took the dogs with us and this is the first time ever that Tackle had left my sight at any point. He had a blast exploring and playing in the creek. Obvisously in the picture he was right by Mama's side.

It is such a beautiful piece of land.

And I found a turtle - Ryan named him Bill. We let Bill go at the end of the day.

Ryan also found a Copperhead snake and subsequently chopped the snake's head off - not the best moment of the day.