Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!!!!!!

I make good, realistic turkey noises. I'm not kidding! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm so happy right now because in 1 1/2 hours, my shift will be done and I will have no more work this week, nor shall I have any classes. I mean, I still have to write a paper before Monday and read a book for class, but the paper is only 8-10 pages and the book is fiction, so I can totally do that! We're really excited for this week. Eli took a physiology test today and he got a 97%! He studied for over 8 hours! I guess it paid off. He was really happy about that. We had a great weekend! Friday night was our ward Thanksgiving dinner. We got there at 4 to set up and get ready (we're on activities committee). It went very smoothly, but making gallons of gravy, stuffing, and mashed potatoes made me really grossed out. I know I'll be over it by Thanksgiving though, because we won't be making things by the gallon and it won't all be from mixes. I won't even tell you what gallons of stuffing look like as you're mixing it together. Saturday was a fun day too. Eli played basketball in the morning with his friends and I went to enrichment and made myself a cute plaque that says Merry Christmas, some ornaments, and some magnets. It was fun! Then I ran errands while Eli studied, then we went to his friend Eric's birthday party/football game watching party. It was harsh. I fell asleep right as things started to go under. Then we went to another birthday party for Eli's old roommate Thomas, it was really fun. He was really surprised. I think that was the first surprise party I've ever been to where we actually were in the dark and yelled out "surprise" and have it work. Sunday was fun because I went to dinner with Cindy and Kurt at Wyndham and Melinda Reeve's house in Eagle Mountain. We picked up Chelsea and Brighton and her husband and little boy came. It was a lot of fun to catch up with everyone and see all the kids. I thought it was weird because, other than Brighton, the other ones were older than me and I never got to hang out with them as peers, but now we're all grown up so it doesn't matter. It was funny.
Tomorrow I have no class, so I'm going to take Eli to class, clean out the car, clean up the house, pack for us, and then pick him up and go up to Idaho. We're excited for the break and a little get-away. I think we might stop in Salt Lake for lunch and to go to the aviary so I can add more birds to my list for my biology class. Tomorrow is four months married for us. Not such a big feat to those of you who count your marriage in years, but still exciting to me!
Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Eli's sister finds out tomorrow what she's having (I predict a girl, but that's what I predicted for Cindy) and then Alaina finds out in a few weeks. Here are some pictures from the summer and the last two are from last Thanksgiving at Alaina's. What a spread!!!

Fun weekend

Well, we've had a fun weekend thus far. Last night Eli had to work and I went to a student produced movie on campus with Janae. It was pretty good. There's a girl in her ward who was one of the producers. Guess who sits behind us? Our old Bishop. He's the best. Eli and I both loved the singles ward it was in so it was good to see him and his wife. They told us that at 10 their stake was having an ice skating party. He told me to bring Eli when he gets off of work and we could go ice skating for free. So we did. It was so much fun. We got to ice skate together (and I have to brag and say it's the one sport at which I am better than Eli), talk to all of our friends from the ward, and use the word zamboni in regular conversation. Then we went up to the lab so Eli could get his lab hours in for the week. I worked on my own project of typing up the recipes I have that are handwritten and just floating around and saving them all to my flash drive. I'm going to print them out and put them in a master cookbook that Eli's aunt gave me. I was happy to get that done. I had over 20 pages of recipes. Now I have more ideas for dinner, and if I ever bring something somewhere, and people ask for the recipe, I can just pop in my flash drive and print it for them right there.
Today, I am at work, I switched shifts with a coworker and now I won't have to work Monday night. I'll work until 2. Eli is here in the library studying. At four we are going to watch AJ so Cindy and Kurt can go see the new James Bond movie, then Eli's lab buddies are having a Chuck Norris party later tonight. It should be a fun weekend. I cleaned the house yesterday. I should go to the store today too. We're having a nice time. Eli had a physics test this week that he did really well on. This upcoming week he has a Personal Finance test and Physiology test. I have a paper due this week that I had better start on.
Have a good weekend everyone!!

Catching Up and Gratitude

It's been a while. I feel like all of my posts start the same way, not much new, just school and work. But basically, that's all it is. We had a good Halloween and are excited that Thanksgiving is almost here! We get to go to Idaho on Tuesday to visit Eli's mom, grandma, sister, brother, niece, and other family for a couple of days! I'm excited for that! We'll come back on Thanksgiving Day, but Eli has to work. But I get to go to Kurt's sisters and her fiance's for Thanksgiving and Cindy and Kurt will be there. Then on Friday we'll have another Thanksgiving with Eli's dad and step-mom and I get to help make it and Cindy and Kurt will come to that one too and Eli will get to be there. What a nice Thanksgiving week! I do have a couple of papers due before that, so that will give me something to work on until then. Eli's been working hard, as always. He has a physics test to take tomorrow morning. He did really well on his practice M-Cat. He got a 24 without even studying, so I know that once he takes the prep course, his score will be sky-high. He is a genius though, so I shouldn't be suprised. Cindy's birthday was this weekend. It was fun. We had a good time. She gets to see what the sex of her baby. I'm vehematley predicting a girl. I can't wait to have that little baby around to play with. Maybe it will postpone some of my own baby fever that I only get at church when I see all of the cute couples with their cute tiny babies. Sigh. I still have to graduate! I really only get that way at church, so don't think I'm wanting a baby immediately. Eli and I have so much fun together, it's hard to think of drastically changing our way of life yet. But, someday! Anyway, I will follow Annie's lead and say some things that I'm grateful for, although in one post, not a lot of different ones. (these are in no particular order)
1. Being married to Eli. He's the best and it's so much fun and I'm learning so much. Marriage is the best way to learn how to love, serve, sacrifice, forgive, repent, and gain patience. I don't think there's anything better than being married.
2. My family (old and new). I'm so grateful for my parents, for my sisters, brother, and all my in-laws, my cousins, grandparents, nieces, nephews, and all relatives. It's been really fun getting to be a part of a whole other family and feeling loved and accepted from them too. I love spending time with family! I just wish more of you guys lived closer. The Belcher compound sounds pretty good, although none of us are Belcher's anymore.
3. Being at BYU and graduating soon. I still think the reason I was supposed to be here was to meet Eli, because I'm not as academically motivated as most of my fellow cougars, but BYU is definatley a great university and I am getting a wonderful education.
4. Being a member of the church. I love the gospel so much and it means so much to me that families can be together forever. I am so grateful for the Savior and all that he's done for us, that's a pretty sweeping statement, huh? Being a member of the church has been the greatest blessing of my life and it's led me to places that I never would have been otherwise and it's given me so many wonderful opportunities.
5. Friends! I have so many wonderful friends. Missouri friends have been so great. There are some that I don't get to see very much, but they are still close to me. I know that Laura and Joanna are some of the best friends I will ever have. Their friendship means so much to me. My college friends have been so great to me. Amber, Emily, Janae, Michelle, wow, there are too many to name. My sisters are my friends too. Eli has so many wonderful friends as well. There's nothing better than having a friend that you know you will have for the rest of your life!
6. Having our needs met. Although we are not rolling in money, Eli and I are both blessed with jobs that give us enough money to pay our rent, buy groceries, and pay for other necessities and even sometimes to go out and have fun. We're so grateful for government grants too. We're very lucky to have been able to qualify for them.
7. Our apartment. I think it's so cute and it's such a nice place to call home. It has it's flaws, but it's our own little place and when we move, we will have so many great memories. I know I already do!
8. Good books. Eli and I both love to read (although we read very different things), there's nothing better than reading a good book!
9. All of the new babies in the family! From March to May, there will be three new babies! My sisters Alaina and Cindy are both pregnant, and Eli's sister Kim is pregnant as well. We're really excited for all of the new babies, and two of the three are in Utah!
10. A bright future to look forward to, knowing that there will be hard times, but there will also be so many amazing things. Who knows where we'll end up or how many kids we'll have or what careers we'll have? It's so much fun to do your best and trust in the Lord and see where He takes you.

That's all. Sorry if it was kind of sappy or whatever. Holidays bring it out in me!
I hope everyone has a great week!
Love,
Cherie and Eli!