splish, splash..

my husband was taking a bath?!

That's right, poor Mr. Drake is SICK. I mean he really is sick, obviously. What 24 (going on 25) year old man takes baths?! He tells me its very soothing, but really I feel bad for him. He worked his entire thanksgiving break and then comes home from work Saturday night sick as a dog. Knowing that being sick never has perfect timing, this time was no exception. He, being the dedicated pharmacy student he is, has a TON of studying to do to prepare for finals. Poor buddy. Prayers are appreciated!!

Well, aside from the sickly news, hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving! We sure did! Joseph and I  spent out very first married thanksgiving together, and what did I forget?! THE camera! Oh well. Tons of memories were made and if anyone knows my family well (I mean really well) this was our first NORMAL thanksgiving in a while! Whew! Thats good for us. We enjoyed the Bradford's thanksgiving lunch and wonderfulness and then around supper time we stuffed our faces again with the Drake's thanksgiving dinner. Both were delightful and share their own uniqueness. There were a lot of changes for both sides this year. For the Bradford's, first Joseph and I slept together the night before in my parent's house, and our new dog, Mr. Bentley! He's the cutest little rascal dog I've ever ONLY had! He really is adorable and adds a little excitement and joy to the Bradford family. For the Drake's, Miss Audrey Grace is the bright full of joy! We absolutely adore her and she is precious (yes, I am kicking myself for not having any pics). I will be sure to have my camera for Christmas, no worries.

After Thursday, was IRON BOWL! We enjoyed the (tense) game with our closest friends and had a great time. We were also able to see our friends Caleb and Laura. Caleb shot our wedding. Joseph and Caleb have been friends since high school (maybe earlier?) and I have enjoyed becoming friends with them myself! They are expecting their first baby in April and they were able to go on a road trip (I mean road trip! 4 weeks and like 20 states) and we got to talk about their adventures and amazing things they got to see. We have such different lives, but that makes our friendship even better. Maybe one day, Joseph and I will be cool like Caleb and Laura! :)

Joseph and I enjoyed our family time and we cherish every moment. As for the next couple of weeks, study, study, study, for the Drake household, but there is a time for everything, and relaxing and playing isn't it!! I hope to finish decorating the house for Christmas after my final next Monday and hope to post pics. Hope you have a wonderful week!

happy 80th birthday, pawpaw! (x2!)

This past weekend, my family and I got the chance to drive to Texas to take part in a surprise birthday party for my PawPaw and his identical twin brother. They are absolutely precious and they were completely surprised, and very  surprised to see the Alabamians there. It was a very short trip, but a wonderful one nonetheless. We were able to see a lot of family and it was a great time.

 Here are the celebrities:

My PawPaw is on the right and Uncle PawPaw is on the left. 

As cute as ever about 80 years ago...

I love the fact that we have twins in our family. My uncle PawPaw has twin grandchildren, they are so pretty, and identical! Maybe Joseph and I will be blessed with cuteness times 2, not that he particularly wants TWO at the same, but I think it would be great! Here are my cousins with the PawPaws.

Told you they are pretty...

We were also able to see my mom's side of the family, and especially we got to see my Uncle Artie Paul. Uncle Artie, is a special man to our family and by God's grace and His perfect timing, we were able to see him one last time before he went to heaven. We got to see him Friday and he passed away Monday morning. I am sadden by the thought, but so incredibly grateful for a Mighty God who is in control of everything. Uncle Artie, I am so glad you are no longer suffering and you get to see MawMaw. I will always remember you and how you always made us laugh, even last Friday.

Sorry to end this post with sadness, but "there is a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance." God's timing is perfect, praise God we are not in control!

In loving memory, Uncle Artie Paul 

head full of tricks and treats.

Joseph and I had our first "halloween" together as a married couple. Since this was the first time Joseph and I had ever carved a pumpkin (both of our moms are anti-halloween) it was REALLY interesting! Ha, needless to say we really didn't know what we were doing. I personally don't LOVE halloween and all the ghosts, witches, etc, but I do LOOVEE pumpkins. I thought we could at least make a happy face pumpkin. So we decided to carve an "AU" pumpkin. (War Eagle!)
We got out our utensils,  since we are first-timers it was for us our big chef knives...

Went online and got a good pumpkin example of "AU" and traced our desired shape...

 and got to work... or so we thought.

 Joseph taking the first stab. 

I think I did more damage than good.

I didn't realize there were "pumpkin carving kits", which would have been very beneficial. Either way, we had fun trying to figure it all out with our chef knives, and it actually turned out an UTTER MESS!! Proof:

The funniest thing that came about this, was the next morning I looked out side and the middle of our "A" was on the ground! I laughed so hard. It look absolutely terrible so I went ahead and threw it away. Lesson learned, buy a pumpkin carving kit! 

One GOOD thing that came out of this experience (aside from the quality time we spent together) was delicious pumpkin seeds. As a dietitian in the making, I must warn you: calorically DENSE! Of course, I looked up the nutrition facts on pumpkin seeds.. they are FULL of calories, so don't be fooled. According to the USDA's nutrient database 1 cup of seeds is 675 calories, 35 g protein, 57 g fat, and 15 g carbohydrate. It is a rich source of monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats (AKA: GOOD fats). But still, not worth it. Sorry. Not to me.  Sorry about the downer news, now I give you the recipe. I just couldn't leave that info out!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Wash and dry seeds on baking sheet over night. (don't use a paper towel! they will stick!)

Sprinkle olive oil over seeds

Shake on- salt, pepper, steak seasoning blend (tex joy in this house), little bit of sugar and cayenne pepper. 

Sprinkle a little worcestershire sauce. Bake on 250 degrees for 1 hour! Enjoy (in moderation)!

it's been a while...

Whoa! It has been such a busy past two weeks!! Since I only blog about mine and Joseph's "leisure" time, well there hasn't been much to say! Besides, I haven't had time. BUT now I do!


October 17, 2009
On this amazing day (started out horrible, but ended pretty good...), I said, "yes" to the man I was going to marry, Joseph Wallace Drake. Ok, I've been in reminiscing mode and I really just wanna tell our engagement story! (warning: its long) But here goes...


October 17, 2009 was a Saturday and started out pretty awful. I started my day out by taking the GRE for grad school. So that explains that, well anyways I gave myself about an hour and quickly decided to not let that test ruin my whole day.  I went home (since I had to take it in Dothan) that weekend and Caroline and Matt were home too. Saturday in October means FOOTBALL! We boiled some peanuts and watched college football all day. Joseph told me that he wanted to take me out on a date Saturday night for all my hard work in studying for the GRE. At this time I started to get curious because the Auburn game started at 6:30, so I was like really?! Isn't the Auburn game during that time?! So he proceeded to tell me that we were going to "hurry up" and be back by half-time.Well, that just made me mad. I had a suspicion this was going to be "the night", but was confused because Joseph was with me ALL day. He dropped me off at my house to get ready at 4:30 and said he will be back at 6 to get me. So I knew he didn't have time to plan anything... meanwhile, Caroline and I were frantically trying to figure out what I was going to wear. It was our first "cold" weekend of the season and packed nothing but short sleeve shirts. Anyways, Joseph came to my door looking extra handsome, but I was still in my foul mood, due to our "hurry up" agenda. Anyways when I got in the car he said we needed to go by his work (Flowers Hospital at the time) to get a coupon for the place we are going to eat, Conestoga Steakhouse, I probably rolled my eyes and I was like whatever. Still pissed at this point. So we arrive and he said just stay in the car. So I wait, and I wait, and I wait, getting a little more agitated. About 20 minutes later, Wesley (his brother, who also works at Flowers) comes to the car. Nothing unusual, and I thought he was just going to chat. But instead he gets in the drivers seat and handed me a note.


It said:  Hey baby, everything is ok. Follow what Wesley says and you will have fun. You'll have a little trip around town following some sayings that you should know pretty well. I love you!!!!


"Grab your new friends Ben and Jerry, and let's turn your ass into a helipad!"
It took me a while to realize where we were going... we went to the hospital's helicopter helipad and there was a little cooler right in the middle of the helipad with a thing of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and another letter...


Letter #2: I hope are enjoying some good ice cream, but don't get a brain freeze!
Harry Burns: Repeat after me. Pepper. 
Sally Albright: Pepper.
Harry Burns: Pepper.
Sally Albright: Pepper.
Harry Burns: Waiter, there is too much pepper on my paprikash.
Sally Albright: Waiter, there is too much pepper on my paprikash.
Harry Burns: But I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie.
Go to the place we call our 1st date, and you will receive further information from the hostess, but you must use the right words to get it!
Our first date was at TGI Fridays. I go to the hostess and tell her who I was and I was suppose to have something waiting for me. And NO I did not say, "Waiter there is too much pepper on my paprikash!!"


Letter #3 I bet that was embarrassing! HA! Well onward...


"The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino."


I'm sure you can guess where you are going next and what you have to order...
This was interesting... I went to the Starbucks in Target and before I could say anything, she rambles, "you can't get nothin' hot." I was like ok.. "Well, I'm Allison Bradford and I think you have something for me." She was like, "I don't know what you are talking about." I was like ok... well. Then the other girl there said "yeah we do".. anyways she was trying to "play" with me. Regardless, I got my letter, but no coffee.


Letter #4 Sorry for decaf if you are feeling a little tired...


"Kathleen Kelly: What will NY152 say today, I wonder. I turn on my computer. I wait impatiently as it connects. I go online, and my breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words: You've got mail. I hear nothing. Not even a sound on the streets of New York, just the beating of my own heart. I have mail. From you. "


You've got mail at 1002 Fieldstone Dr.
At this point, I was like, is he going to propose at his house!?!? surely not! haha I guess it would have been fine, but I was wrong, and Wesley told me that I needed to look in the mail box. Whew, that one was easy...


Letter #5 I know you are wondering when this will end. Soon...



Sally: I'd like the chef salad please with oil and vinegar on the side, and the apple pie a la mode.
Waitress: Chef and apple a la mode.
Sally: But I'd like the pie heated, and I don't want the ice cream on top. I want it on the side, and I'd like strawberry instead of vanilla if you have it. If not, then no ice cream, just whipped cream, but only if it's real. If it's out of the can, then nothing.
Waitress: Not even the pie?
Sally: No, just the pie, but then not heated.

Wesley will take where you need to go... But you will have to order some pie, you don't have to be picky.
Here, I was completely clueless. We were kinda back where we started (near the hospital) and he was going out that way. So I began to think what restaurants are around there number one (because not too many) and which one will have PIE?? So random! I guessed Waffle House! No, Dakota! No, well I gave up and Wesley kept driving down 84 onto Brannon Stand Rd, then I knew BBQ Shack! Let me tell you, this is the most run down, random, out-of-the-way place! Either way, I went inside and bought pie! I was starving! Remember, we were suppose to be eating dinner!! I got another letter, which is my favorite.


Letter #6 Almost there! I hope you are having a great time! 


Harry Burns: I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. 


Follow Wesley's instructions and enjoy some coffee and ice cream. I love you!
So I knew it was getting CLOSE! I kept wondering, "where is Joseph?!?!" After reading the letter, I started to get out my pie I just got to start eating! But Wesley, took the pie and said, No no, no pie for you. You need to put this on.. and he give me this black tie and tells me to blindfold myself! I was like but Wesley I get really car sick, and he says well you'll just have to hold it in. Great! So I blind fold myself and I thought we were going out to their farm, which is in the direction we were going, but Wesley went this weird way and half way through I had no clue where we were. I felt like we were going over speed bumps, and doing all kinds of twists and turns. Well soon enough, we turn on a gravel road. We were here, the farm! I got out of the car and took the blind fold off and there was Joseph. I started to cry uncontrollably, and there were candles lining the dock.


He sat me down on a bench and began to read this letter he wrote to me. SO ROMANTIC. More crying.. then he told me to stand up and he got on one knee and said, "Will you make me the happiest man alive and will you marry me?" Of course, I said, "YES!!" There were flowers all over the dock and bouquet of 28 roses (at that time we had been dating for 28 months) and there was a card on each one stating a reason why he loves me. It was the most amazing day of my life and a complete dream come true. I am so luck to have such a romantic, thoughtful man. He is truly amazing.


Poor Wesley! He was so great! He stayed around to take some pictures, which I am so glad he did!

 We went back to my house to share the exciting news. It was the perfect weekend, being that my ENTIRE family was in town, which is very rare. So I was able to share all the excitement with everyone. We drove up my drive way honking and everyone came out and we hugged and celebrate. It was such a great memory. We went inside and told the whole story.

Reading all the letters...

Telling us how he pulled this whole thing off!

I love this picture. We were so happy!

28 roses with 28 reasons. So amazing!

All of the flowers, the daisies were all around the dock. And of course, the BLING! So I totally forgot about that important part! So my ring is amazing and I love it. I did help pick it out but, he did the important part... :) I am so blessed!!

After telling my family everything that happened we went to his house to share the news. We were STARVING by now, so Wesley and Leah picked up Conestoga (finally!) for us and we enjoyed that with some champagne (I'm telling you, he thought of everything!). We toasted and shared our excited with everyone in our phone book on our phone. Called grandparents and all of our close friends.  It was a great night!

Whew! I told you it was long. Congrats to you if you made it all the way through! I know its very long, but it is such a special story to me:)

marwage, marwage is oh, so great!

Joseph and I had our first official 'lazy' Sun-DAY/NIGHT. We did not wake up until 12:30 pm with the sky dark and rainy and then we saw the clock we both freaked out of how late we slept! Neither of us have done that in years! So, obviously we did not make it to church, and what did we do?! Went down stairs, I poured me a bowl of cereal and Joseph heated up left over pizza from last night and we began our eating marathon! Ha, from there we ate corn dip, pretzels and peanut butter (I did eat an apple to balance things out), candy corn and twizzlers galore! We laid on the couch and watched movie after movie, then realized I had assignments due tomorrow morning at 8 am and he has a test tomorrow! So we mustarded up so  motivation and got to work... til about 5:45 when we decided we needed to eat dinner. He was craving chicken tetrazinni, which I have never ate or made, so he called his mom for the recipe. So I was going to document every step but I now call this dish that he wanted so badly, chicken tetra-wieny. It was awful. Sweet Joseph said it wasn't too bad and that he would eat the leftovers, and I said good. I am not eating the leftovers! So after my failed (in my opinion) dinner, we wanted ice cream! So i went to Winn Dixie and got bye-one-get-one-free ice cream and we enjoyed.

Don't let looks deceive you... it was not that great, but I didn't want to waste all the time I spent taking pics of each step of the way, I just had to put one on here!!

Around 9:30 I just kept telling him over and over how wonderful Brittany's Alabama Fire Crackers were at the tailgate, and he was like, then make some! So- I did!

We had our late Sunday evening snack of blue moon, which we split, and Alabama Fire Crackers! See http://goodnitedearvoid.blogspot.com/ for the recipe!

I am calling it a night- to food that is. Tomorrow I will begin my strict eating regime and work out like its going out of style so that I can keep my youthful figure. Aside from our day of eating, I realized how much I loved being married to Mr. Drake. God has blessed us so much to be with each other. I thank God daily for putting Joseph in my life. He is my everything and I love him more than words can describe. He is so fun, loving, sarcastic and wonderful I just can't seem to get enough of him! I pray that our marriage would be a light to others and that we would glorify God in all we do. We fail at this miserably, but by the grace of God, He gives us chance after chance to shine for Him. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

it's fall ya'll!

God is amazing at giving us 4 seasons to look forward to each year. I love aspects of each season, but my love for Fall out weighs them all! Yesterday, September 22, marked the first official day of fall. I absolutely love fall. As I left my other love, Kroger, I was thinking of all the fallish things that I love so much. I thought that I could make a list a 500 long, so I am gonna go for it.

Why I love Fall:

1. Beautiful trees in Auburn, AL

2. Pumpkin bread

3. Fall decorations (no witches, please!)

4. Weather getting cooler

5. Fall clothes

6. CANDY, but especially, candy corn

7. Pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks 

8. Pumpkin smelling candles

9. Breaking out the scarves and fall-like accessories

10. Auburn football (college football, in general)

11. Experimenting with pumpkin recipes (more to come!)

12. Time with family

13. Thanksgiving meal 

14. Engaged to my wonderful husband (October 17)

15. The farm

16. Roasted pumpkin seeds

17. Cute trick-or-treaters at my door

18. The sight downtown Auburn on Halloween night (what are people thinking?!?)

19. Being able to run more than 3 miles without having a heat stroke

20. Pumpkin spice flavored coffee creamer

Ok, so I guess I can't come up with 500 reasons why I love fall, but I do believe it is the MOST wonderful time of the year! I am sure I will think of more as soon as I post this, but I think 20 will get the point across. I hope to try more pumpkin recipes this fall, and I will be sure to share.

Nathan Angelo sings a song dedicated to Autumnal equinox, and of course I listened to it yesterday as I went to work, but it did not get me near as excited about fall as it usually does, because when I got into my car it was a whopping 98 degrees outside. Hopefully, God will give us grace, and give us cooler weather! I can tell its coming because on my way home today from Montgomery, the leaves were falling!! Yay! I hope to capture some of the Auburn trees with my camera and I will be sure to post, the best description I can give its beauty is that its so colorful you would think it was springtime! Enjoy fall!

i love weekends.

We had a full-house this weekend with Joseph's brother, Wesley, and his girlfriend, Leah, and our friend, Eric all stayed with us. We had a good time Friday night, celebrating Nichole's completion of her COMPS for school by going to Sky Bar. Well, to say the least it was terribly crowded and Joseph and I were in bed BEFORE midnight. :) Aside from the crowded bar, we enjoyed spending time with friends, away from school work.

Joseph has a HUGE test Friday. He has been working non -stop preparing for this test. He even woke up at 7:30 Saturday morning (I guess going to bed early paid off for him!) to study before we went to the tailgate. I am so proud of him! I decided to wake up an go for a run, hoping that the weather would feel like it did the last time there was a home game at Auburn, boy was I wrong!! It was so hot Saturday.

Joseph and I had such a great time tailgating. We have such great friends and we truly enjoyed making our rounds. We did our usual tailgate party with Suzanne and her crew. I made boiled peanuts this weekend and learned a new (and better) way of boiling peanuts! I put them in the crock pot. It was so easy. I did have to boil them down the old-fashioned way for about an hour so that all could fit! Once I did that I put the crock pot on high for about 5 hours. They were a great treat for us to sample when we got home from the bar! Here are a few pics from our tailgate.

Suzanne and her wonderful boyfriend, Shane. Shane made jello shots for the occasion. Let me tell you, whatever Shane does with alcohol, he does well! Last home game he made some concoction called "voodoo juice" It was delicious! Now, he didn't make ordinary jello shots this week, of course. Here is his recipe:

orange jello

cranberry juice

peach schnapps

vodka

THEY WERE AMAZING!!

The Drake boys- Wesley, Ben and Joseph

My beautiful friend, Brittany. We stopped by the Jackson-Thornton (where Brittany will be employed in August!) tailgate. We saw a lot of people we knew there! 

This weekend Auburn played the Clemson Tigers. I am not a huge football watcher, even my beloved Auber Tigers, but this weekend, I was unusually glued to the TV, until about the 3rd quarter, when things got exciting. I woke up (haha) with a score of 24-24, and I was like WHAT?!?! So yeah, close game I hear! I did get to see the lucky over-time win. Overall, this weekend was great and I even made it to the gym on Sunday! Go me... not really.

priorties.. psh.

Today I come home and I was completely exhausted, so I ate before I went to the gym (which I never do that) and when I came home instead of learning about some intense medical nutrition therapy I decide to bake homemade cookies and to learn more about my camera. I found the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe known to man. I found it online from allrecipes.com, which is a great source to find any recipe, but they are not always good, so I was quite surprised at the outcome of these cookies! I made them especially for Miss Nichole Ross, who will be taking a huge exam Friday.

The recipe goes:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking SODA
1 tsp hot water
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla. Dissolve baking soda with hot water. Add mixture and add salt. Mix together flour and chocolate chips. Bake for about 10-12 minutes and you have PERFECT chocolate chip cookies!!
Here's a picture of the creation.

For my graduation, Joseph bought me a VERY nice camera, a Cannon EOS Rebel XS, to be exact. We have truly enjoyed it, especially during all the wedding festivities and honeymoon. We automatically noticed how great of pictures the camera takes compared to the rinky dink little digital camera we had before. My wonderful friend, Brittany, inspired me yet again! to learn more about my camera. So another thing I did tonight was learned more about my camera. I am going to take it to the tailgate Saturday and play with it some more so hopefully I can have some shots to post! Have a good week and WARRRR EAGLE!

long time, no see.

So I told you that I probably wouldn't be too great at all this blogging, but thanks to my wonderful friend Brittany, she has inspired me. Joseph and I FINALLY live in our house- by ourselves. We absolutely love it. I do regret not blogging the whole process, because it was quite an adventure! Aside from our moving experience, we have (I think) finally settled into our new lifestyle. Starting in August, Joseph began pharmacy school at Auburn and I began my dietetic internship in Montgomery. Joseph studies A LOT and I drive A LOT. Ha, no its not that bad, I actually have enjoyed everything about internship- so far! We do love living in Auburn!

For my birthday Joseph gave me a sewing machine. My two best friends, Brittany and Jessica, both have sewing machines, so I told Joseph one day that I just HAD TO HAVE ONE. Well he is awesome and he surprised me for my birthday with one. We came back last Saturday from tailgating ALL day and my brand new sewing machine is waiting at my front door! I was really really excited about it, but a little intimidated by it, so I did not open it right away. It took me until Monday to open it! I opened it, looked at it for about 2 minutes and then put it back in the box. Brittany and I will be having a sewing lesson very soon.

I know I have a ton to update you on, but for now I am content with the progress I have made. I will leave you with a wedding picture. Caleb Chancey did an amazing job! Can you believe it has been over 2 months since we got married?! Time flies when you are having fun.

first blog. ever.

So I decided that since I love to read other peoples blogs, then I should at least attempt to try to write a blog of my own. I tried to journal, and that really didn't work, so maybe this will! Joseph and I got married on June 19, 2010. Right now we are in a "transition" time of our life. We are waiting to move into our apartment in Auburn, so now we are living with my parents. It really has not been bad at all, but as any married or unmarried person may think, it'll be nice to have our own place. My parents have been wonderful and so generous for allowing us to live here, but it is so funny and weird. Just think... haha. Joseph has been the best thing about it all, it was kind of funny when we got home from our honeymoon and we began to unpack. I have never had to share a room with anyone. Ever. Now Joseph on the other hand comes from a family of 8 children. Poor thing, he left his house with having to share a room with his brother to my house to share a room with me. I was the one freaking out about having someone putting THEIR stuff with my stuff, I quickly snapped out of my OCD, and we are becoming VERY good roommates :) Well. I guess this is all for now. We'll see how this goes.. haha I did find the "delete account" button, so just in case.

good night!