STAY TUNED...

As soon as we are done unpacking I will write an update, just letting you know not to give up!!

Dinner with the President

Thats right. Be proud of that. Mom, thats the daughter you've tried to raise so well. Sherry, that is your daughter-in-law, show it off. I know its a spectacular picture.

So we had our final party we are going to have in Searcy. Kinda sad :( It was a Christmas party and it ended up being a ton of fun. We had a total of 9 people and then 2 showed up later. Chelsie brought chili cheese dip which was gone in about 5 minutes, her roomate Nina brought cookies which were also gone by the end of the night, Shay brought brownies...guess what, also gone by the end of the night haha. A hit! I made an angel food cake, strawberries and whiped cream trifle. It looked pretty fancy by the time I was done with it haha. We played a game of Dirty Santa...college version. Thats right, all gifts were from the dollar store. Now, obviously we weren't expecting anything extravagant, and normally there would be a bunch of different things brought to the party. However, this is Searcy. One dollar store. So everytime something was opened about half the people in the room said "OH! I almost got that!" and laughter then followed. Chad ended up with a set of fishing bobbers...4 of them. Great, great, gift. haha I ended up with the lovely pirate ensemble you see pictured above. Again, extremely useful. Too bad halloween is already over.
Our friend Shay ended up with this mini, mini golf set.

Her boyfriend Barrett (Chads old roomate) got this "gun" which shot about a foot and had barely any velocity too it. Hours of endless enjoyment definitely.

This is our set. Yes, we got lucky.

On Sunday night we went to this "living nativity" thing at the church down the road for us. We ended up waiting an hour before we even started moving - thats how popular this thing is! Crazy. But they had these screens on the side of the building and their own radio station going that had christmas songs and silly songs with larry and moments from old movies, etc. It was pretty entertaining. They gave you hot chocolate and a CD to start when you went through the "gates" of Bethlehem. No joke, it was very well done. The people did a good job, the set design was very planned out, and there were animals everywhere which of course got my attention. They even had 2 camels! That shocked us more than anything ha. It was a fun little memory though :)

Tonight we went to a graduate dinner provided by Harding. Steak, chicken, salad, veggies, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and dessert. Not too bad. We ended up sitting at a table with none other than the President of Harding and the Dean of Bible. Chad, of course, started right off talking to them and the conversation went smoothly the whole night. I talked to them about going to Italy (and mom they knew Tracy and we got to talk about her a lot!) and how that program is just amazing and they should try to get everyone to experience it. There was a devotional, a few people talked, and we got a little folder full of helpful information. Pretty good to end our Harding adventure with that.

I have taken one exam and have my other one on Friday. Besides that i have a budget project due and another outline project to do. Besides that I am going to start packing tomorrow (yes, pray for me to actually do that...) and cleaning because Friday we have to be inspected for check-out...Yikes.

Taxidermy Time

Well not too much has been going on besides school and getting ready for the move. I'm usually pretty organized and like to get a head start on being prepared for stuff but for some reason, I just can't get motivated to just pack everything. Obviously there is a lot of stuff that we can't pack up quite yet, but maybe I'm just thinking we are still using every single thing we own...hm.

Chad and I have been reading a book called His Needs Her Needs - again, one of those things meant more for people married a little longer but it has really been a great book. Today we read this chapter on "activities" and it talks about doing things together that we both enjoy. There was this chart we both had to fill out and rate our enjoyment of a bunch of activities they had written out. You rate your enjoyment of or wish of enjoyment between -3 and 3 and then add them up. Our highest scores were: Amusement Parks, watching baseball, concerts, dining out, flying (as a passenger), watching football, movies, plays, snorkeling, skydiving, tv, watching movies, music, and backrubs!

Just to be funny, here are some of our lowest scores...aerobic exercise (and i wonder why I'm not losing weight?), antique collecting, auto customizing, computer programing, judo, metalwork, rock collecting (that would be an interesting couple who scored high on that), rowing, stamp collecting, and taxidermy. Yep, taxidermy was an activity. Hey honey, want to go stuff this rabbit i just shot? Interesting.

There were also a few things we had never even heard of...ham radio? what is that? pinochle? Anyone heard of these things?

Last piece of news...i am OFFICIALLY Cristy Lynn Burris. I got my social security card in the mail and there it is. My new name. Although it hasn't really hit home completely because I still have to sign all of my papers as Cavender since school still has me down as that. Only a few weeks away!! Maybe we'll be packed by then...

Our first Turkey week

I just want to start off by saying I absolutely love hearing Christmas music everywhere I go. Walmart, radio, student center, random stores, people singing randomly as they walk, and at home. Love it.

Alright so Friday, November 28th started our break and originally we were going to drive to the Ham (Birmingham if you don't know the lingo) but my Aunt, Uncle and cousin (Nancy, Carl, and Lisa) were driving through to pick Steven up so we stuck around to get to see them since we won't be seeing them for Christmas this year. We went to dinner at Coloton's which is like a Logan's sort of place. It was a ton of fun but nearing the end of the night Steven's friend Rachel found a black bug crawling around in her salad. Yes, thats right. ALIVE and crawling all over. Everyone was pretty much done eating after that. Quite an appetite killer. After that Nancy and Carl came over to see our humble abode and then Lisa, Steven, Rachel, Chad and I hung out the rest of the night.

Bright and early the next morning we were up and packing and then around 8:45 Lisa and Steven left for Indiana. We had a lot of packing to do and a few errands to run and then we left for the 7 hour trip to Birmingham. It was a lot of fun as usual and I love having that one-on-one time with my hubby. Provides great time for good conversation and if you know Chad, you know he isn't one of the stereotypical guys you have to pry at to get him to talk, which I never complain about :) We got there late in the afternoon and met at our apartment complex to show my Dad the place because he hadn't seen it yet, but they were unable to show us because it was getting dark. One of those things that someone got sued somewhere, sometime and so now they can't show apartments after dark or when its raining, or even looks like rain. Yep, we learned all this out. So we just looked in the windows and then wen't and ate at Logans....ironic I used that as an example earlier. That night we just sat around and talked and I always love that.

Sunday was church. I cannot wait to go there every week! We went to Cozumel for lunch of course. That night we watched Wall-e for the second time in a week and let me tell you, if you haven't seen it...see it! It is so cute. Another hit! While I'm on this track let me say/ask something. Every movie I've watched if there is a relationship in it, it is automatically linked to my life. If one of those people die - i'm balling. If they get married - i'm smiling while balling. Anyone else do this or is it a personal thing haha Let me know... That night we played a game called Wits and Wagers - you have to guess a numerical answer to a question and then bet on who you think is right. Yeah I wasn't too good and mainly bet on everyone else's answers. I was right maybe once or twice haha

Monday Mom and I drove downtown to go to the Social Security office to try and turn in my information to get my name legally changed but we got there and once they said it would be an hour wait, we turned around and left haha. To follow up on this story, 2 days ago I went to the office here in Searcy and I was in and out in 6 minutes. AND the girl didn't even take my paperwork or look at my license or passport. Sketchy...but quick! Ok so after that we went to Davids Bridal to drop off my wedding shoes to get dyed ($3! and i'm getting red ooh la la) and ran into Hannah Baxter and her posse from church looking at wedding dresses for her wedding in June. ah the memories...That night we played Scottish bridge (Burris family you now know what that is! yay!) and just hung out together.

Tuesday I spent most of my time making my Pumpkin bread. Its one of those recipes that you have to sift every single thing even if it is already pre-sifted haha. No but I love it. We went to Panera Bread for lunch...are you realizing how much I love this place? And then packed up and I made my spinach and artichoke dip that day too. Ask for the recipe if you want it! That night we met Dad at Moe's and got some coffee with the fam and then headed to Memphis.

Wednesday we left Memphis around 10:45 on a 5 hour trip to Missouri! It was a full house and Chad and I stayed across the street at his aunt and uncle Todd and Sarah's house. That night we taught the Burris Bunch to play Scottish Bridge and it was a hit. It was played many times during our visit! Thursday we came to the house and the Thanksgiving day parade was on and people were everywhere; food was cooking and the smells were mouth-watering. I helped Chelsie make the tray with celery and cream cheese, olives, pickles, etc. There were a total of 15 people there and tons of food to feed everyone. EVERYTHING was good. Literally, every single thing I had, i liked, possibly loved and am forever in-love with. There was: Turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce, stuffing/dressing (take your choice of word), and I just know I left something out which is why I meant to take pictures of everything because i know how forgetful I am. There was finally "orange stuff" as it is called which is tapioca pudding and...other things which I have no idea but it is amazing. Later in the day was dessert which consisted of pumpkin pie, pecan pie, mince meat pie, and heavenly hash/ Mississippi mud cake. This Mississippi mud I had never had before, and I really wonder why because it is a combination of my favorite things ever. Chocolate, marshmallows, and cake. AND the marshmallows were doubled! I mean, that is the dessert I would dream up if I made one. Alas, it is already made and now I have found it at last.

After lunch we watched the Titans game on tv and of course they won. We shot a bbgun and my first shot I hit the target (aka a bottle on the yard) dead on. Amazing, right? Yep. Would have been believable that I meant to but when it hit I let out a huge gasp as in "I can't believe that even got near it!" sort of thing so that ruined my cover. I was impressed though and thats all that matters. I watched Chad and Doug toss the football around some. That night we all played Scottish Bridge again (it was requested!) and then later played Pictionary. I was on a team with Chad, Doug, Chelsie and Papa. With Doug and Chelsie being perfect at drawing we won and I found myself wishing I was blessed with those talents haha. My stick figures just don't do justice any longer. Oh well. After THIS game the guys left and me, Chelsie, Mema, and Sherry played Scattegories. OK. Normally, I am decent at this game but of course, this night, I was absolutely awful. The second round I wrote down ONE word. Thats right, ONE. My brain was fried or I was tired or something, who knows. I was relieved when I found out I wasn't the only one "off my game" that night though. On this glorious second round, everyone was reading their answers and on the 3rd to last one, Mema declared her answer proudly. However, we were on the letter "G" and she wrote down "dog" for her answer. This sent us all into a fit of laughter. After the game we all went down to this little park that has a Christmas light drive-thru display. I loved it of course. I LOVE lights. It was so fun :) Good ending to the night.

Friday the guys went to shoot their guns and us girls went to a place called the Tea Room. It is this really cute lunch place that has great food and even better cakes. I got a sandwich and tomato soup and me, Chelsie, and Sherry split a chocolate raspberry slice of cake. We then went to some stores where I wish I had money to spend and then finally back to Mema and Papas house. The guys were there already eating their lunch and after that we packed up and headed back to Memphis. The original plan was to leave on Saturday but a very good friend of Mema and Papas who was the guy who married Doug and Sherry passed away and his funeral was held in Nashville on Saturday so they wanted to get back in order to go to it. When we got back Chad and I went and saw the new James Bond movie (pretty good, not spectacular, but good) with his good friend/best man in the wedding Jeremy. It was good catching up with him.

Saturday Chad and I went out shopping to see if there were any good sales leftover from Black Friday that we could use our last gift cards on. We only bought some snacks for home but it was still fun. That night we hung out with Jeremy, his cousin, and his cousin's girlfriend. We went to this place that has one of those competitions where if you eat their "Bigfoot Burger" (which includes a 4lb burger, sides and all the toppings) you get it free and your name on a place that hangs on the wall. The record is 7 minutes...I don't even eat a regular 1/3lb burger in 7 minutes. That is completely crazy, but props to that guy whoever he is.

Sunday we got to go to Chads church, Highland, for the first time since we've been married. It was great seeing a lot of people we hadn't seen in a while. We ate at a burger place called Huey's - this place serves toothpicks in the burgers and after you are done you take them and put them in your straw and shoot them at the ceiling tiles - there are thousands of toothpicks on the ceiling. Hilarious. We then headed home! Great first Thanksgiving together :)

This week hasn't been anywhere near as exciting. One of our classes got cancelled, 2 of my exams got cancelled...which IS pretty exciting and I'm so thankful for that but other than that it has been figuring out everything we need to do in order to move, graduate, etc. Chad got his cap and gown today! Woo Hoo! I found it exciting. If it were me I would have had it on and pranced around in it but Chad is a guy so it is still sitting in his truck, wrapped up. Oh our differences. :)

Chelsie and I being mad at Chad for some reason... the "grandkids" pictures even though i'm technically not a grandkid

MMM pumpkin pie!

Our tree! Thats right, we have 8 ornaments. It looks awesome haha We have this, a mini tree, and a Christmas tree music box as our decorations.