Hail Dear Ole State

When we moved to gainesville and zach started medical school at the university of florida the question we were asked most often was, "Are you going to be Gator fans?" Our answer was "Yes" and that we would cheer for the University of Florida unless they are playing Mississippi State or Auburn. Having one football season under our belt, I know most of you will be happy to hear that I own no UF apparel, we only watched one UF game socially and never while MSU or Auburn were playing, and we never attended a game at the Swamp to cheer for UF. While we said we would cheer for Florida, we really haven't. And being in Gainesville makes us bleed maroon and white even more (if that is possible?!) and dislike Gator fans even more. Every Saturday night when our game was on ESPNU (which is a channel we do not get), we would be in maroon seated in front of the computer watching our game. We would ring cowbells, but I don't think that would have gone over well with our neighbors. We love our alma mater, so Hail State! Go Bulldogs! Vroom Maroon! and GTHOM!

All this to say, we're so excited to be going to the Gator Bowl next month! And a big thanks to Florida for not coming after Dan Mullen!

This was taken right after our 10-7 win over Florida in the Swamp! What a sweet victory! They had to throw us out of the stadium!

O, Christmas Tree!

Confession: I put this up before Thanksgiving. (At least I waited until December to blog about it!) I've thoroughly enjoyed it ever since! I turned off all the lights in the house, lit Christmas Candles and watched Elf while sipping hot chocolate... and it was 85 degrees outside. I live in Florida.

Decorating the tree with Christmas ornaments is one of my favorite things to do! Every year since I can remember I've decorated the tree with my mom as our cats tried to climb it and sang along to all of Amy Grant's Christmas albums. This year, I listed to the Glee Christmas album, duh.

A common theme in married life is remembering past traditions and starting new ones. I appreciate the blending of the old with the new. Last Christmas, mom let me take some ornaments from our family tree to have for my new married Christmas tree! Each ornament has a unique memory and is dear to my heart. I got a little teary as I hung the familiar ornaments with so much sentimental meaning in my new home. Here is our tree!!!

A makeshift tree topper:

A blend of new and old ornaments: Shout out- Bec's look at the ornament you made!

Presents under the tree!

Hottie Hoo!!

I made this in the 2nd grade!

There are several hand-crafted ornaments, of course!

This is from our honeymoon in Chattanooga.

These shells were from a vacation we took this summer with my step brother and step sister to Delray Beach.

Mom got this one for us!

Every year Zach's mom would take him and his brother to pick out an ornament for their tree. We decided to do the same!

This is my pick: Barbie shoes!!!

The store was sold out of Zach's ornament, but here's a picture anyways. Hopefully is don our tree soon!

Chocolate Cheesecake

I have a new found love for cooking! Maybe it's a very appreciative and hungry husband or the joy in preparing meals for studious medical students? More than likely it's the innate feminine need to nurture. Anyhoo- we hosted a party for the SEC Championship game. I got to cook for a crowd! Fun! We had yummy appetizers first, then chili and cornbread for supper. And I made a delicious chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Did I mention it's super easy? Bonus! Here it is:

CRUST

1) Mix the following ingredients in a bowl:

3/4 Cup finely chopped almonds

1.5 Cups crushed chocolate teddy grahams (I pour the teddy grahams in a big zip lock and roll over with rolling pin until crushed)

2) Melt 1/4 Cup butter and pour over almonds and grahams.

3) Add 1/2 tsp vanilla and stir together.

4) Press mixture into bottom and up the sides of a pie pan. Then put in fridge until ready to use.

CHEESECAKE

1) Beat 16 oz of cream cheese and 1/2 Cup sugar until well blended.

2) Add 1 jar (13 oz) of nutella hazlenut spread and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Mix until well blended.

3) Stir, do not beat, 1 tub (8 oz) of thawed cool whip.

4) Spoon mixture into crust.

5) Garnish with left over teddy grahams (optional, but I think it looks adorable). Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Thanksgiving in Pace

I love the holiday season! It's the first one with my new husband, and i'm really excited about it! We spent Thanksgiving with the Greenes in Pensacola. It was a full house! Robyn and Alex, Zach's brother and sister-in-law, were down from Memphis, and Robyn's parents, Robert and Teri, were up from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. That was eight of us under one roof- Always fun to have a full house! We did the usual: eat, shop, watch football-- all weekend!

Thanksgiving dinner was hosted at the Greene's home. Naturally, the girls cooked inside while the boys cooked outside. We had smoked turkey thanks to Zach's Dad's smoker. Delicious!

I even got to make my family's dressing (with white bread instead of corn bread). It was my first Thanksgiving away from my parents, but I enjoyed new traditions with my new family.

Zach's parents are big Auburn fans, so we watched the Iron Bowl on Friday... War Eagle!

This was a bit strange, but I've married into an Auburn family!

And then went to celebrate the win and Zach's Mom's birthday with Aunt Barbara and Uncle Ed at Ed's Seafood Shed in Mobile.

I'm still questions Zach's judgement in this next stunt of his:

He tackled the "Yo Daddy's Sandwich" at Ed's. It's an eating contest of sorts- Zach vs Sandwich. The sandwich is a philly cheese steak with french fries, cole slaw, and a heaping pile of onion rings. Here are the before and after pictures!

The whole gang at the Shed!

And we wrapped up a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with a Bulldog win! Hail State!

my first cooking post!

Zach and I had a wonderful weekend filled with fun and friends! Friday night, Zach and I went out with our new couple friends, Kaitlyn and LB. We had a delicious seafood (well, I had duck, but everyone else had fish!) dinner before going to the Gainesville Community Playhouse to see The Wiz. It was a great small theater! Zach and I went to see Dracula at another local theater, the Hippodrome, last weekend with Dad. I think we prefer the Hipp, but I love all theater! It was fun to do something different, and we all enjoyed the evening.

We woke up fairly early on Saturday morning without alarms (how wonderful is that!) and rode the bikes to downtown Gainesville for a run. I really need to get on this half-marathon training!! Zach even made me run some drills- it's handy to have my own personal running coach around! I had noticed some neat looking older homes, and I wanted to try and find them again. Turns out I had stumbled upon the Bed and Breakfast District! What a fun hidden treasure! Not that we'll ever need a hotel in Gainesville, but the B&Bs looks adorable and quite inviting. After our run we had breakfast at a local coffee shop- Maudes Classic Cafe (If you're familiar with Starkville, it reminded me of an indy LJ's). It was yummy, and we're looking forward to going back for a dessert and board game double date soon! We had our friend, Scotty, over to watch the MSU v Alabama football game. Despite, the outcome, we love hanging out with Scotty, and I love any excuse to cook for hungry boys! I made beef stew in the crock pot; stuffed shells with prosciutto, ricotta and radicchio (thanks for the martha stewart living subscription, mom- delicious!); and apple crisp (yuuuummmmm).

Speaking of hungry boys, I cook for Zach and his med school friends often. This is one of Zach's favorites, and I made it for him and Tim last week. It's another martha recipe!

Peanut Crusted Chicken

1) Preheat over to 475 degrees.

2) In a food processor, pulse 3/4 cups unsalted peanuts and 3 slices of bread torn into small pieces until coarsely ground.

3) Transfer ground peanuts to a bowl and whisk in 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, 1.5 teaspoons salt, 0.75 teaspoons pepper.

4) While you have the olive oil out, drizzle some on a baking sheet.

5) In another bowl, beat 2 large eggs (I just used my whisk). Season eggs with salt and pepper.

6) Add 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (the thinner, the better for chicken to stay moist and tender!) to eggs and turn to coat.
7) Take the chicken, one piece at a time, and dredge in ground peanuts. Press the chicken into the peanuts to coat well. Then, transfer the chicken to oiled baking sheet.

8) Bake about 10 minutes until lightly browned and cooked all the way through. If you have used thicker pieces of chicken, cook longer.

9) I like to serve the chicken with something green, like asparagus or broccoli (or both! you know I love green veggies!)

On Sunday, Kaitlyn and I watched The Kite Runner. It was a wonderful, thought-provoking film. It was quite heavy, but I recommend it!

Also-- just found out that my mono has relapsed. Awesome. But it explains why I've been so exhausted lately. And why I would love to be doing this right now...

Fall FUN!!

Ok- where did October go??? Seriously... A lot has been going on it seems, hence my blog neglection. But here's a quick re-cap for the month of October:

We enjoyed visits from my parents and Zach's parents for the Mississippi State vs Florida football game! It felt amazing to win in the Swamp! Way to go Bulldogs! I wore maroon to church the next day! We are now members of Christ Community Church (Zach is even helping me in my 3-year-old classroom). I've visited a couple Arts Festivals in and around the Gainesville area- new friends plus crafts- so much fun! Zach finished up cardiovascular and pulmonary pathology in school, so he survived having tests every two weeks (gross!). We are now in the play-offs for intramural frisbee with the medical school team, the herniated discs (cute, right?). I've been traveling a lot lately for work- Chattanooga, Savannah and Charleston. I'm hoping my travels will one day take me to where my friends and family are!

My Dad flew down from Maryland to spend this past weekend with us. He was looking forward to warm Florida weather, and he was sure surprised by the cold! The temperature dropped 60 degrees over night. One day it was 95 degrees, and the next it was 35 degrees! Brrrr... On Saturday morning we went to Payne's Prairie. It's about a 3 mile walk round-trip, and we must have seen at least 30 alligators! Since we haven't had rain in quite some time, the water is really low, and the gators were out sunning themselves. Beautiful yellow flowers have grown where the river has dried up. We marveled at God's creation. Alligators are so prehistoric- so cool to see up close (but not too close!) Enjoy the pics!

We are looking forward to seeing family for the upcoming holidays. Thanksgiving in Pensacola, Christmas in Mississippi, and New Years at a bowl game (hopefully!)

routine-ish

Halfway into Zach’s school year, and I think we’ve finally hit some sort of routine? At least I know that every other Wednesday I will be cooking a meal for 4 very hungry boys as they prepare for a test. Anyone have any good, easy and fast recipes that feed 10? (Each boy eats for 2, and then Zach likes leftovers) Women’s Bible Study every other Tuesday. Pilates, Zumba and running at the gym during the week. Clean the house and laundry on the weekend. Frisbee on Friday nights and all day Sunday. Sunday School and late church. Repeat.

We are spending time with some church friends to balance out medical school friends. It’s necessary. Making friends has been the most surprising challenge for me. How hard could it be? I am surrounded by men in a male-dominated field at work. All of Zach's friends are single guys from school and frisbee. Most young married couples either party a lot or have children. Where are the people who are like us? I've been filling up my time (maybe even too much-- it's like freshman year of college all over again) with really good things with church and in the community in hopes of making some friends!

Three months into marriage, and we’re already reading a book called “What Did You Expect?” Well, I am reading, and Zach is reading what I have highlighted before Sunday School class. At first I was embarrassed to be reading this book in public because what would people think when they saw a newlywed reading a book that implies that marriage is not all that it’s cracked up to be? It’s all in the inflection you use when saying the book title. It’s actually generating wonderful conversations about the realities of marriage and God’s purpose for marriage. Also, expectations are huge—we had been advised time and time again that Zach and I would have different expectations as all married couples experience. More than that, it takes the focus away from what “I want” and brings to light the fact that we live in a broken world, are married to broken and are broken ourselves. I wasn’t even particularly drawn to this Sunday School because I didn’t feel like Zach and I needed a class on marriage yet. (Yet- haha. I knew one day I’d like to take it, but I figured that would come in our 2nd year of marriage) Our new couple friends, Kaitlyn and LB, go to the class, and they invited us.

We had Kaitlyn and LB over last weekend to watch the Florida football game. I had to wear one of Zach's really large frisbee jerseys because I own nothing with UF or Gators on it(this is on purpose, but maybe it's time to give in?). We played Settlers of Catan, and I cooked stuffed peppers for dinner. Then, the boys suffered through the game, and Kaitlyn and I got to talk about all sorts of things. This was the first time Zach and I have spent time with another couple since we've been married. I really liked it. LB is in law school, and Kaitlyn works-- something else we have in common. It's a small similarity, but having that in common is significant. I think there will be more board games and eating in the future with these two!

ALSO- I saw the movie babies. Adorable. It's at Redbox. Plus, if you use the promo code "BREAKROOM" or "DVDONME", it's free! no excuses- go watch it!