One Crazy Way to End Year 1

So it has been FOREVER since my last posted blog. After you read this, you will see why! It has been quite an exciting/crazy/busy time in the Wakefield world!!!

Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year, and I begin celebrating the fall on October 1^st!!! This particular October surprisingly brought more “excitement” than even last year!! (it was only 1 month before the wedding) But oh no!! I had no idea how crazy things could be!!

I have two part time jobs as I have mentioned before. I am a barista at Seattle Drip Coffee Company and a teacher/tutor at Sylvan Learning Center. Both of those jobs have started hopping since October. If you recall, the weather became pretty cool at the first of October, just long enough to tease us with a fabulous feel of autumn. Because of the cool weather, everyone was racing to their nearest coffee shop!! Also, it is the dead center of the semester; several schools had just received some sort of progress report or report card, so all the students are fighting to improve before the end of the year or just before mom bands them from attending homecoming, prom, or class play day. This works wonderfully for me!! I love the extra hours!!!  Richard had been working a decent amount as well. So life was just a rolling a long…. or rather flying along.

Then, on Tuesday, October 19, I had just gathered my materials together at Sylvan to begin working my 3:30 – 7:30 shift.  In the middle of my first hour my boss walked out of her office with a pale, worried expression. “Lana, can you come into my office for a quick second?” I of course said, “Sure Ms. Laura, no problem.” I started trying to think of what I could have possibly have done wrong to have her pull me away from the table in the middle of a lesson. My other boss quickly ran to cover my table until I returned. Once I was in her office she said, “There is someone on the phone from Samford’s Health Clinic and they are trying to reach you concerning your husband. I’ll leave you in here.” So she walked out and shut the door. The conversation I had with the nurse practitioner was very brief, and all she really could tell me was that Richard had come to them with an extremely elevated heart rate and was having strange sensations in his head/brain. They had advised he be sent to the hospital immediately to be looked over. SOOO since he couldn’t contact me on my cell phone, because we leave our cell phones on silent and in the back while teaching, they called an ambulance to pick him up.

When I walked out and told my bosses all I knew, they offered to cover/cancel my lessons, and get me to the hospital. See, even though I have lived here now, for almost a year, I get lost on just about a daily basis. Laura was so kind to let me follow her to the hospital.

I found Richard in an ER room, waiting on the doctor. To make a long story short, after several hours in the ER, an EKG, a CT scan, and a brief meeting with a doctor I wanted to knock out, they discharged him believing it was a migraine. My argument that night was “He isn’t in pain, his head doesn’t hurt, and he has had migraines before! This is different!! Also, would anyone like to take some blood work and just double check??” Oh well, they gave him a shot that knocked him out and we came home. No worries.

The next day I felt sorry for him, and offered to take him to Newk’s for lunch. As we were sitting there eating, having a happy conversation as I recall, his face went blank and he whispered, “It’s happening again.” Again, trying to keep this fairly short, after boxing up our lunches, getting him in the car, a few phone calls with the mom’s, and then him going limp on the right side and slightly unresponsive, I drove faster than Jeff Gorden trying to get his butt right up to the ER AGAIN!!!! I demanded MRI’s, blood work, etc. I just wanted everything ruled out at this point. After blood work, MRI, etc, they admitted us and we got to spend the night on the neurological floor, where they check on you ever hour. :/ He was released the next day around 4:00.

So now, he is doing fine. We are still unsure of what all really went on with his body, and we are unable to get an appointment with the neurologist thanks to the crappy insurance company.

However, I want everyone to know he is doing fine. He hasn’t had any (what I call) spells. J God has been beyond good to us and has shown His mighty grace and power with providing the first payments of the medical bills and still having what we need.

My hours have been great, though I am probably working way too hard and way too many hours for my body, I am not going to complain one bit!!! I need the money and both sets of bosses have been absolutely amazing with allowing me to leave and travel back to Jackson whenever I need or want.

We had a fabulous Halloween!!!!! Lots of fun!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Baton Rouge and Jackson over the Thanksgiving holidays!! And I felt as though I had more to be thankful for this year than anyone else I know!!

Not to mention we celebrated our 1^st year anniversary as a married couple back in Birmingham, by spending more than money than we should have on a meal that Richard claims was “stupid good!”

We bought a Christmas tree and decorated it, enjoyed the cool weather, and ate fabulous food at Brio.

Now, Richard is preparing for his finals next week, and I am working as much as I possibly can, while we both are looking forward to the Christmas holidays!!!!

Merry Christmas!!! May God bless you all!!!

Please remember to count your blessings!! We have so many we take for granted. Not to mention that we receive so many more blessings through those times of struggle. J This Wakefield family is only one small example of the living proof that statement brings.

Food

I LOVE FOOD!! I wish I were allergic to something, or at least had a little bit of a more picky taste but I am not and I do not. I love all things eatable. So when I started thinking it was about that time to update the world on MY world as a Wakefield, I realized all that has really gone on is a whole lot of good eatin'! :)

Last weekend was wonderful!! It had been quite the week for both Richard and myself. We had both worked several shifts, most of those being long and draining. It was also the first weekend in a couple of weeks that Richard did not have to work. So on Friday after we both got home from work and school we decided on one of my all time favorites (you will learn I say that about almost everything), PIZZA!!!!! We were so excited about our Big Italy pizza that we called our friends, Donaye and Alicia, who were to be arriving back home from their trip to Vegas. We assumed they'd be worn out from the week long vacation of site seeing and the traveling and decide to have a rain check, but they must really like us because they said they'd be there soon. They wanted to order their own pizza and so Richard and I were thinking we'd be able to eat on the Big Italy for the whole weekend!! We were so hungry and hadn't eaten something that good in a while!! I don't know if this is needless to say or not, it just depends on how well you know me I suppose, but ... well we ALL BUT 2 PIECES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you seen the Big Italy from Pizza Hut???? 2 feet long.... the size of two medium pizzas!! I had 5 toppings on my half!!!!!! Richard had 4!!!!!!!! ALL BUT 2 PIECES!!!!!!!!!!! It was fabulous. Writing about it makes me really want a piece right now!!!! It doesn't help that I haven't had lunch... Technically then, we should have been full of food until at least Monday morning. I will say we at least took it easy on our tummies Saturday. Well sort of.

Saturday was a day of running errands and studying and of course football. We woke up that morning and left to get Richard's car serviced. While waiting we remember that there was to be a Greek Festival in B'ham  over the weekend and Saturday was the final day. Soo.... we drove over there after leaving the car shop. We stood in line to get authentic Greek cuisine, but realized we would be standing there for at least another hour and a half before we got to the actual food. Since Richard really needed to study, we opted to jump out of that line into the dessert line which for some reason was really short and much quicker to move through. We tried one of everything they had. (3 different desserts) I will have to let you know what they were called at another time. I don't recall, but they were all FABULOUS!!!! I know one was called the Greek Wedding Cookie. If you have ever had Danish Wedding Cookies, it was a homemade one of those!! YUM!!!! We walked around and did a tour of the Greek Orthodox church hear in B'ham who actually puts the Annual Greek Festival on each year. I believe this was like the 39th one!!! Then we returned home to study and watch the football scores. Richard of course studied hard for Pharmacy school, but I had to actually revisit Calculus. I had been told there would be a Calculus student coming to Sylvan and he would be placed with yours truly. I was fine with that, but felt it would be wise to refresh my memory over the weekend. We don't have cable as I have mentioned before in previous blogs, and our DSL Internet just isn't quite capable of showing a good clear game on espn3.com so we just kept up with the scores on the web site instead. (YAY !!! to the Mississippi and Alabama teams that weekend. They all won! Didn't really care what Alabama did, but I suppose I just commend them for their almost loss but not game. :))After quite a few hour of vigorous studying, we decided to take a break and run to the grocery, were we bought WAY more than we ever should have. I'm not going to tell you how much over our usual weekly grocery bill we spent!! BUT.... we decided to cook a wonderful dinner for our friends, Donaye and Alicia (yes, they seem to be the only people in this area who haven't figured out we are weird and therefore they still like us. Or maybe they are just as crazy. :)) for Alicia's Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! It is actually today, but we cooked the dinner last night for her! So anyways, I was pretty excited about that. Also, at the time Richard and I had gotten over our full of pizza bellies and decided we wanted some good home cookin' you get when you're a kid. We made fried chicken fingers, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans!!! It was sooo wonderful!!!!!! The bag of chicken fingers contains 40 chicken fingers. Guess how many were left over.... nope... guess again.... for those who guess 4 congratulations!!! Let's just say I don't want to step on a weighing scale any time soon. :/

Sunday we went to church at this small church right behind our apartments basically. I had actually gone the week before alone to visit, while Richard was stuck working. They are really sweet there and it somewhat reminds me of a church I went to in Mississippi a good bit my senior year of high school. There was a couple there around our age... actually they are the ONLY couple there around our age.... that talked to us and asked if we'd like to grab some lunch. I was honestly thinking to myself, "If you only knew what we have spent on food and eaten this weekend, you wouldn't dare ask in fear you'd be blamed for supporting our sin of gluttony." However, I looked at Richard and said "Well, we were just planning on eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but what did you have in mind?" The place was Subway, and I don't know why but I just LOVE Subway... oh yeah, maybe it is because I love all things eatable. :) So we decided to go along and make new friends. Richard went first and asked for a foot long Philly Steak and Cheese. I said, "Oh that sounds good. Yeah, I'll just half that with you." He turned and gave me a look and then said, "Get your own. This is mine!" hahaha! I said, okay and ordered a much healthier sandwich: Chicken Bacon Cheddar Ranch. I asked for a 6" and they made me a foot long. : / Being taught to not waste food, I knew this whole sandwich would have to be eaten! But do not worry, I saved half of it for supper. :)

So now to tell you what was made for last night's birthday supper. I have been asked to post the recipe so I will list that as well.

We had:

Bruschetta: Richard made this with butter and garlic brushed on bread, a piece of salami placed on top, and sprinkled with mozzarella cheese. You just place it in the oven long enough for the cheese to melt.

Spinach leaf salad with black olives, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, baby bella mushrooms, and creamy Italian dressing

Rotel Chicken Spaghetti (my mom's recipe)

What you need:

1 lb of spaghetti noodles (I like the angle hair)

3 to 4 chicken breast (depends on how much meat you like in yours. Also, if you can get the kind with the skin on it, it taste even better... however, I just usually use the regular skinless/boneless kind)

16 oz brick of Velveta cheese

1 can of Cream of Chicken soup

1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup

1 can of Rotel tomatoes

How to make it:

Boil the chicken. Usually takes 20 - 30 minutes. To check and see if they are done, cut one in half and there should be NO pink! ALL WHITE!!! You are going to cut these. Depending on if you like chunks of chicken or smaller pieces will determine how you cut them.

Then, take chicken of of the pot but KEEP the water you just boiled them in.

Place 1 lb of spaghetti noodles into the water. You will need to add some water for boiling your noodles. I add a little Chicken Broth instead if I have it handy. Boil noodles. Add salt and pepper according you your liking.  Drain.

In a big bowl, have 8 oz of your velveta cheese cubed. Pour drained noodles into the bowl while hot and mix well, until all the velveta cubes have melted and mixed in.

Add can of Cream of Chicken soup, can of Cream of Mushroom soup, and can of Rotel tomatoes, and cut chicken. Mix well.

Place concoction into a 9 X 13 baking dish. Place the other 8 oz of cubed Velveta cheese across the top of concoction.

Place in the oven long enough to let the cheese melt.

Then we also had dessert: What Richard calls "Slap yo' mamma chocolate toffee Trifle

What you will need:

1 box of chocolate cake mix AND whatever the back of the cake box says you will need for the cake

2 boxes of Jello Chocolate Instant Pudding

1 Quart of Milk

Cool Whip (the original recipe calls for the 8 oz tub... I get the 16 oz. :))

Crumbled Toffee (I buy small heath bars and smash them)

How to make it:

Bake your cake according to the back of the box in a 13 X 9 dish. Let cool. If I can, I let mine sit overnight or half a day. Then cute the cake into cubes. I usually cut it into 1/2 inch cubes.

Fill half of your Trifle dish with cake cubes. (Depending on the size of your trifle dish, this may or may not be half of the cake. I always have cubes left over.)

Next mix one packet of pudding with 2 cups of milk. Whisk well for about 2 minutes and then poor immediately over the cake cubes in your dish.

Spread a layer of Cool Whip on top (dividing your trifle dish in half)

Sprinkle with as much toffee as you wish.

Repeat these steps once more.

Sit in the refrigerator and let sit as long as you like. The cooler it gets the better!

 

Needless to say we ate GOOD last night, and there were plenty of left overs, so as soon as I get home today, you can bet I'll be warm some of those up!!!!

 

So I hope you have enjoyed my food filled blog!!!

I have made myself super hungry!!!!

 

Til' next time, GOD BLESS!!!!

 

 

A Wakefield Update

I don't really have all that much to say since the last time I posted, but it has been 2 weeks since then, so I feel as though I should update you on the very little that has been going on at the Wakefield Apartment.


First, I have been working a good bit, which is wonderful!! I work at Seattle Drip Coffee Co. several mornings a week and then as a tutor at Sylvan Learning Center several afternoon/evenings a week. I LOVE working for the coffee shop!!! It is a lot of fun, plus I get to drink coffee all morning!! :) Sylvan is hard. Unlike regular teaching, there is no prep work or lesson plans which is great, but that also means there is no preparing for whatever subject it is you are about to have to know everything about either. You have no idea what the child is working on until they come to your table with their Sylvan binder. Kinda scary really. The thing I am really enjoying and trying to use to my advantage is how Sylvan is bettering me as a teacher. It keeps me on my toes with mathematical concepts, because I can't just look something up and study it before a student has a question about it. I am also being trained in teaching students how to read, and that is very rewarding! It is really cool to watch a child's face when they read an entire sentence alone and know they did it correctly! Elementary teachers, I now know why you do what you do! I have such an admiration for elementary teachers anyways, but I suppose if you were to see that face on a regular basis I could understand how you stick with it!! Kudos to all of you!


Richard is back in full swing with Pharmacy school. No test yet, but so far he feels good about all of his classes. There is something you should all know about my husband: he is weird and LOVES learning about this stuff. haha! Okay, I can't say much because I enjoy learning new things too, but he really has a heart for learning. When he says the only books he reads are the Bible and text books, he is serious AND he reads those for pleasure, not necessarily because he is required to for school. Yep, I married an intellectual.


Unfortunately, the beautiful mums I was so proud of a couple of weeks ago have passed. They didn't last very long, but they did their duty I suppose. They made my balcony look fall-ish for a little while. :)


I believe last time I also complained about not having cable and not being able to watch football. Well, a kind woman told me about espn.com where some of the games can be streamed through the internet!! So though the reception is HORRIBLE, it is blurry most of the time, it skips several plays, and freezes randomly, I still get to HEAR and sometime watch a few football games!! YAY!!! I am a little upset that they are not streaming the LSU vs. MSU game tonight. Yes I am aware that LSU is probably going to pummel MSU, but I still love watching my dawgs play. Maroon is my favorite color of fall! :) I will however, be watching the Auburn v. Clemson game and possible watching a replay of the Florida gators vs. Tennessee game.
Either way, I plan on eating a fabulous supper of grilled tilapia, asparagus, squash, and zucchini tonight with my sweetheart!!!


Hope all is well with anyone who takes the time to read this.


God bless!! Have a great start to your week tomorrow!!

The Official Labor Day Activities

Labor Day weekend exceeded my expectations, despite the fact that everything I assumed and planned to do, got twisted into something else! :) As it always does. Not really jst why I plan so much when this is the case. :)
Well here's the scoop...
Richard came into town Friday and seeing his face started the weekend off right! I had missed him so badly!! So I believe I said in the previous post that I planned to have Richard grill hotdogs Friday night and sit on the balcony with a glass of sweet tea in one hand, Richard's hand in the other, and a hotdog in my belly, however, Richard came home still full from the lunch his preceptor at his rotation had treated him to. SO, me, starving because I had been waiting for those scrumptious hotdogs, decided to order a pizza. There was a deal at Pizza Hut if you bought 2 medium pizzas, so I did, and it is a good thing, because Richard mysteriously became "hungry" when the pizza's arrived. :) So we ate pizza in the living room and Richard played video games!! Fabulous fun!
Side note::: for those of you who don't know, I LOVE watching people play interesting video games. I personally can't play. I just play stink at it. It probably has something to do with the fact that both my older and younger brother played video games ALL THE TIME!!! But they usually played games that were for one player only, so I would just watch. So anyways, when I say, "Fabulous Fun!" I am not being sarcastic! It was a lot of fun!
For me, this was the perfect way to start the Labor Day weekend, and I'm so glad it didn't go according to plan. :)
So Saturday we slept in, and then we discussed going to the Alabama State Fair. We were concerned however, that we didn't hear anyone else talking about the fair being in town or anything. We questioned if the fair here was as much fun or as big a deal here. I got online and looked up the website and it was pretty sketchy. The dates changed from website to website, the music was stuff we had never heard of, and the main website was so disorganized, that we decided to just wait and try to make it home for the Mississippi State Fair. Instead we went to a trail where we just slowly walked and enjoyed the weather and company of each other. It was absolutely gorgeous where we went. We even crossed through a spring. It was sooo much fun! We had left over pizza for dinner, and then we picked a movie from Richard's library of strange movies, and cuddled up in the bed and watch about half of it before we passed out. Day 2 was even better than Day 1 of our Labor Day weekend!!
Sunday, we tried a new church. It was very reverent and we enjoyed it. I love Sundays. It is so great to start the week off with showing respect to our creator and doing so with others. When we got home, we went to a couple of places to look at plants. Richard has really wanted to "liven" up the balcony area with some plantage. He's been set on getting a hanging plant. So we ended up at Home Depot, where he found his perfect little hanging plant, and I picked out some beautiful deep red mums!
Side note::: Fall is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE time of year, and I HAVE to have mums during this time!!
So anyways, we decorated our porch/balcony/whatever you want to call it and sat out there for a while enjoying our new friends (the plants) and the cool weather and great conversation. When we returned Richard lit up the grill and we had yummy hotdogs on the porch/balcony while enjoying our foliage. :) Afterwards, we rented The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (I had never seen it) and curled up on the couch together and with Josie (my Chihuahua) and when that movie finished we curled up in bed and finished watching the weird movie "Stargate" from the night before. Day 3.... EVEN BETTER!!!!
Monday was our final day of rest before Richard began year 2 of Pharmacy school, and I would begin officially working for my two part time jobs. Therefore, I decided to start the day off with my favorite breakfast of all time: French Toast the way my momma makes it! :) After breakfast, we spring cleaned the apartment, and then sat down and played video games for a bit. For lunch, we decided to take our leftover, cooked on the grill hotdogs, and go outside behind our apartments and have a picnic. It was so much fun! The weather was AMAZING! Then we went to a walking/biking trail and got our exercise in for the weekend!! I'm proud of myself! :) The trail was very pretty and right across the street from Richard's school, Samford University. We passed quite a few in shape, college kids which made me feel REAL good about myself, let me tell ya, but it was fun. :) After showering and getting in comfy clothes, Richard decided to run to the grocery and buy a few things to cook a yummy, Labor Day Finale' meal. He loves to cook and doesn't get to a lot do to a lack of time and finances, so I figured why not today. We have time, and it will be a great way to end the Labor Day weekend. He made a delicious baked chicken dish. It had a lemon and sundried tomato sauce on it. ABSOLUTELY SUPERB MY DEAR! (I am actually planning on eating the last piece for lunch today! ;)
So the Labor Day weekend was more than a success!! haha! The only two things I would have like to really have added would be a camera and football. I am really going to just have to buy a disposable one so I can document our fall together! Also, we currently don't have cable and at this time of year, that depresses me. I hardly watch television  at all, but this time of year is the ONLY time I regret not having cable. I am missing all the wonderful football games!! I LOVE FOOTBALL!!! When I said I love fall, I meant everything about it!! Also, I am going to miss all my silly Disney Channel Halloween movies that come on in October. :( Other than that, AMAZING WEEKEND!!! God is SOO good!
And yesterday went really well for Richard at school and for me at my two part time gigs.
We would like to think this is a great way to assume how the next year will roll. :)

God bless!!!! He has obviously blessed me!!!

Our First Married Labor Day Weekend

Richard is in Pharmacy school, as most of you all know, and before each semester he is required to take a rotation at some Pharmacy (whether with a hospital or a retail store like CVS, Walgreens, etc.) for 2 weeks. He chose to do this particular rotation in Jackson, MS from August 23 - September 3, thinking it would be good to get his name in Jackson in case we decide to move back after he graduates Pharmacy school.


I have been unemployed since August 1st, so I originally assumed I wouldn't be able to drive into Jackson with him, in hopes that I would have landed a fabulous job by the time he had his rotation. Unfortunately, I had not landed a job by the time his rotation came around, but it was nice to be free and able to visit the family! So we drove down in different cars, just in case I heard back from any of the thousands (well it felt like thousands) of applications I had sent out. ***Which by the way, I did hear back from two and am currently in the process of training with both of them for part time positions, but that is whole different story.


So anyways, I had to come back to Birmingham on Monday, and have missed my dear husband quite a good bit. I was hoping to be able to drive back to Jackson for the Labor Day weekend so we could do a big cookout with the families and all.


***Side note:: If you have ever been out to my house, you know it is perfect for a cookout. Several acres of beautiful land, a good distance off the road with a nice sized lake, lots of grass to roll in, and all my mom's family living around the lake. It is my safe haven for sure.


However, finances really didn't want to allow me to drive down to Jackson, and then have Richard and I BOTH drive back up to Birmingham. Besides I know that if I went to Jackson we'd want to go play golf with my daddy tomorrow morning, because he is not working this weekend, we'd probably want to go to the zoo because I hear there is a new exhibit and the weather has been just fabulous for outdoor adventures (I LOVE THE ZOO), and we'd probably want to go see a movie (Richard LOVES movies)! I just feel like we should be doing things if it is a holiday AND great weather!!!! :)


I really got to thinking and praying and decided it would be best if I stayed here studying and working on learning everything I need to know for my two new jobs, and Richard could just come back to Birmingham as soon as he was released from his last day of rotation. Even though I was a little disappointed in the plans I had in my head being squashed, I realized the money we save on gas could be used to do something here, just the two of us, since we really haven't had ANY alone time in the last couple of weeks!


Well, TODAY is Richard’s final day of rotation! YAY!! He actually just called me about 30 minutes ago to let me know he was on his way home!! I can’t even tell you how excited I am!!!! So I have been trying to get all my studying done, the house cleaned, clothes and towels and sheets washed, shower taken, etc. before he gets here so we can do something fun!!!
I have been thinking hard about what would be cheap and fun that we could do, and I have decided on two things!!! One being cheap and one being fun!!! : D


We bought hot dogs right before we left for Jackson, so we are going to have our own cookout right here at the apartment!! We can’t really play any outdoor games, or fish, or roll in the grass during our cookout, but we can sit on our balcony which faces the back of the apartments and actually has a very nice, nature filled view, eat our grilled out hot dogs, and enjoy great company and conversation.


The second thing I want to do is go to the Alabama State Fair!!!!! I love the fair!!!! I saw a billboard with a sign that said something about the Alabama State fair and the dates were August something through September 6. I was only concerned with when the last day was. I just love going and walking around and eating a caramel apple, chicken on a stick, funnel cake, or well really anything as long as it comes from one of those creepy fair vendors, otherwise known as Carnies.

Now I am excited about our Labor Day weekend!!!


Unfortunately my camera has completely gone out on me, but if I can, I’ll get a disposable one and try and take some pics of our first Labor Day weekend together as a married couple.
I hope everyone enjoys their longer than usual weekend!!! Know that you are blessed!!!

Our Story

Caution: This one is a bit long.


Okay, so here's the story....
(All conversations on facebook or text messages are word for word how it was said. I saved everything because I am weird. Phone convos or in person convos are pretty accurate because I have a fabulous memory! :) )


Richard was working at River Oaks Hospital when my sister-in-law, Amy McDonald Etheridge, went into labor (February 10, 2009). I was working at Sumner Hill Junior High School at the time and was unable to get up to the hospital until 3:30 that day. Around lunch, mom and her sister (my aunt), Susan, decided to go to the River Oaks Hospital Cafeteria to grab something to eat when mom recognized Richard and Richard recognized my mom.


Side note::: Richard and I went to the same high school: Hillcrest Christian School. He graduated in 2002 and I graduated in 2004. Though I cheered and he played football, we never said one word to each other, nor did we ever even pass each other in the hall ways. We did know of each other, but that was it. My mom was a substitute teacher for Hillcrest for several years and got to know a lot of the students there, one being Richard. She had always said she liked him, because he was a good student, quiet, clean, etc. ha. So that explains why she would recognize him and talk to him.


So anyways, Richard said hello to my mom and if you know my mother, she got extremely excited to talk and began asking the poor boy all these questions about his life. Mostly “are you single? Why are you single? Do you want to be single? I have a daughter that is single.” Richard, being normal, told her that he was just really busy with trying to get into Pharmacy school and working. Of course this just made him all the more attractive to my mother. “Well you should look her on facebook and catch up! She’s really cute and single! Remember her??” Aunt Susan threw in to look her daughter up (she graduated from Hillcrest in 2005) also; though she was not single. Ha! Richard told them both thanks, he was just too busy. Mom responded with, “Well that is just perfect. Lana is really busy too!!” How this made the match better I am not sure, but she was determined. Poor Richard, he never had a chance.


When I arrived at River Oaks later to see my precious niece’s birth, Momma was so thrilled to tell me who she had run into earlier.
“Do you remember Richard Wakefield??? He is sooo cute!! AND he is single! Like you!! I told him to look you up!! I decided not to offer your number since that doesn’t seem to work!”
I replied with, “Well thanks mom! I really appreciate you not giving out my number! I’d appreciate it more if you would quit pimping me out and making me sound desperate!!! I am happy! Remember??”
She says, “Oh no! I made sure not to make you sound desperate! I didn’t even mention past breakups or anything!”
“Wow! Thanks!” I said.
She asked, “Well do you remember him?”
“Yes, I do, whoopee!” I responded sarcastically. “Mom, we didn’t even talk in high school. I just know OF him.”
“Oh but he is so good looking! Me and Aunt Susan were just drooling over him,” still excited about her run in.
“That’s great mom! Maybe you could date him!” I said laughing.
“Oh well, I told him to look you up on facebook. Maybe he will,” she said.


Well I didn’t think anymore of it until the next day when I had a message in my inbox on facebook. Here’s the conversation we had over the next 3 days on facebook.
Richard Anthony Wakefield (February 11 at 8:57pm)
I saw your mother at the hospital yesterday... i had no idea amy and will were having a baby!... congrats on being an aunt...
anyhow she informed me you were at mc and teaching... best wishes.. oh and how are you?
Lana Queen (February 12 at 8:21pm)
Hey! Yeah... I couldn't believe it either, about Will and Amy. Truthfully, they weren’t planning on it for a while. haha.
So you work at River Oaks? That’s great! I didn’t realize that is what you went into. Not that I thought you went into anything actually. ha.
I'm glad to know you know who I am. =]
I am teaching in Clinton and I LOVE IT!
I'm doing great... how about yourself?
P.S. love the profile pic by the way. haha =]
Richard Anthony Wakefield (February 13 at 8:20am)
well... it is good to hear from you!... and of course I know who you are! your profile pic is pretty awesome too! where are you living now?... anyhow if your ever in the neighborhood let me know!
Lana Queen (February 13 at 6:34pm)
I live in Raymond. What neighborhood? Jackson? ha
Richard Anthony Wakefield (February 13 at 7:17pm)
ah... so you still live on west parks? and yes... that's my way of saying look me up: xxx-xxx-xxxx
Lana Queen (February 13 at 7:20pm)
Oh yeah, still here. I would move if I had the money... oh well for now.
Gotcha... I definitely will. Well you do the same: xxx-xxx-xxxx


Truth was, neither of us were about to call the other one first. We were both thinking, he’ll/she’ll call if he/she wants to and I’ll wait for that!
Well, on Valentine’s Day (the next day) I sent out a mass text message saying “Happy Valentines’ Day!” to several of my friends, and I figured, “Well, I could send it to him also, and then it wouldn’t be like I actually took the time to send only him something!” So I did.
He of course thought I had only sent it to him! Ha!
We got to talking through text messages and decided to set up a date night.
He wanted to cook for me! I was thrilled because I LOVE TO EAT!!! He said Italian food was his specialty and he’d make lasagna! I said that Italian food was my favorite to eat! I, flirtingly said, “I’ll bring dessert.” Hello!!! I meant myself, but he said, “GREAT!! What are you going to make?”
“Umm…. I don’t know?! Do you like chocolate?” I said slightly caught off guard.
“YES!” He said. “Anything chocolate is good, and the more chocolate the better!”
I wish I could remember the date we set, but about two days before our date I receive a text message asking if I’d like to get some coffee at Starbucks because he wanted to take a study break. The truth was “NO!!!” I had been coaching cheerleading lessons at the church gym and looked and probably smelt a mess! Plus I didn’t drink coffee at the time! However, I was afraid to say no. I feared he would think I wasn’t interested and he’d cancel our date, so I said “sure!”
I figured I might as well let him see me all a mess anyways!
So I met him at Starbucks in Clinton. He was looking oh so cute in his green sweater that made his eye jump out at me! Leaning back on his chair, sippin’ his coffee, looking all smooth and relaxed! I was a nervous wreck! He kept asking me if I’d like something to drink and I kept saying no, I don’t drink coffee. It seemed to really bother him that I didn’t want anything. Ha!
Anyways, we just caught up on our lives and discussed high school a bit. It was wonderful. It really made me look forward to our real date.
So the day of the date comes up and mom asked me, “Hey, what are you going to make for the dessert?”
I said, “Oh he isn’t really going to cook for me. We talked about that over a week ago. Guys don’t really cook!”
Mom’s eyes got big, and she said, “Lana, I think he is serious! I would at least take something over there to make just in case!”
So I ran to the store and picked up my cake mix and a can of cherry pie filling and some brown sugar to sprinkle on the top of it. Thinking, well if he does cook, it is probably like Stouffer’s Lasagna, right??
Well, when I got to his parent’s home, I walked in to the aroma of something so yummy, I felt like those cartoons that get lifted off the floor and just float towards the food by following the steam. He had made homemade salsa, was in the process of taking homemade bruschetta out of the oven, and was in the process of creating homemade lasagna!!! Needless to say, I wanted to hide my Pillsbury cake mix. Not to mention when I did actually get to make the cake that night, it took forever! I couldn’t get the middle of the stupid thing to cook all the way through!!! Priceless!
That night was a lot of fun!! We laughed a lot and talked a ton!!! He won me over that night. Dang my extra sensitive taste buds that love Italian food!!!!!!

So anyways, we hung out a lot after that. Just about every day actually.
Richard found out he was accepted to Samford McWhorter School of Pharmacy at the beginning of July I believe. So he was going to have to move to Birmingham at the 1st of August. We had talked about marriage but I honestly figured we’d get engaged around Christmas and plan a wedding for the summer. Boy was I incorrect!
He talked to my daddy on July 12, 2009 and picked up the ring on July 13, 2009. He picked the ring up during his lunch break. He couldn't wait so he planned to take me to dinner that night when he got out of his night class, but he couldn't even wait for that. It is a hilarious story.
I was suppose to bring him lunch that day at River oaks and he called me right before I left to tell me that they were really really busy, and he wouldn't be able to eat with me. I told him I would bring him something anyway even if we couldn't sit and eat together. (he was actually buying the ring at lunch apparently)
After I took his lunch to him, I went across the street to my mom's office and was hanging out there all afternoon because there was a horrible storm. He called me at like 2:45 and asked me if he could come by and say hey to me and mom. He has done this before many times: Nothing unusual yet. I said sure that I'd love to see him.
He then texted me and said he couldn't get away, and asked if I could just come by there before I headed home. He told me if I could to park in the ER. I was a little irritated (not really sure why) but said yes, give me a few.
I got my stuff together and got in the car and apparently I wasn't fast enough for him, because when I was at the stop sign right before getting to his work, HE pasted ME! He waved me down and pointed me back to the Children's Clinic Parking lot. When we got there he got in my car and we were just talking as we usually do. Being all silly and twitterpated. You know, oh I have missed you so much today, I love you so much! I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you... blah blah blah... I know some of you are in the process of finding a barf bag now. But I must tell you that this is normal coming from him, so still nothing wired. THEN he started to act strange. He was really fidgety and nervous acting. He asked me how much I loved him, and I said enough to spend the rest of my life with him. He said, "really Like Really really??"
He had asked me if I'd marry him many times before sweetly but just kind of flirting and messing around, but this time he pulled out the ring. It wasn't even in a box, and he said will you marry me Lana Queen and he slid it on my finger. I wear my "true love waits" ring on my left hand and he said..."You can take that off now, because you don't have to wait anymore. I'm here!" He said a bunch of other really sweet stuff, but I was so caught off guard that I couldn’t remember anything! I cried and said I don't even remember what all you said, but yes yes yes... what am I going tell people when they ask how you proposed??
He had to return straight to work that very moment!! He basically took his 15 minute break to propose in a parking lot in horrible weather! =) I couldn't be happier and I couldn't have asked for it in any other way. It was perfect!!!! So unlike him!!!!!
I love that he was soooooo nervous ad excited! That’s what makes it!!

P.S. So I asked Richard write down what he said to me so I could tell people and besides I told him I wanted to remember. haha. Now that I'm not so jumpy and shaky I can truly grasp what he was saying so he told me again and wrote it in a message to me. So girls.... be very jealous! =)

"... like i said ... do you ever feel like the world slows down for those who are in love? I do! because that's how it feels with you! truly every moment i am with you time sincerely stops altogether and the universe, for a time, revolves around you! Lana Queen i cannot imagine what a horrible existence it would be without you in this world to give me the love, encouragement, and support i need to believe that there must truly be a God at work who could create such a beautiful creature!... YOU! I cannot even hold back a simple secret because my love for you is so overwhelming. I cannot stop the inevitable smile the pours from the bounty of love i have in my soul! never forget that even after I meet my father... I love you NOT loved OR did love... still do! And always will!"

(The two above pictures where once we all got home, the day we got engaged. The below pic is after we went out to eat that night at Julep to celebrate.

So, he asked me to marry him on July 13, 2009, I resigned from my job at Sumner Hill on July 27, 2009, got married on November 28, 2009, moved to Birmingham November 29, 2009.

 

Here we are!! Living happily married in Birmingham, AL. Richard is attending Samford for Pharmacy School and works a couple of nights a week at Walgreens in the Pharmacy.

I worked for a school that is within a church (Shades Mountain Christian School) in January through May, then I worked at a summer camp at the same church for the summer, and now I am currently training and working part time with the Seattle Drip Coffee Company and Sylvan Learning Center.

I love being married! I love Richard so much I cannot express it in words, and though trying to find work, getting Alabama teaching certified, and being a grown up and having to pay bills isn’t oh so much fun, I wouldn’t trade it for anything!!!!

I do miss my family back in Raymond. I miss my friends. I miss the slower pace and gravel roads. Just because Alabama is a southern state, Birmingham is not so country southern as what I am used to. However, I really love the city, and it has been such fun getting to learn it with my best friend!

Now that I have you all caught up on most everything, the next blog shouldn’t be this long!! :)

Until next time, count your blessing, tell your family and friends you love them, and praise God!!

Our families <3

New to the Blog Thing

Well, I have never TRULY blogged before, but my cousin's wife has a blog about to two of them to keep everyone informed on how the newly married couple is doing. I get questions all the time about where Richard and I have moved, what job I am with, how Richard's Pharmacy school is going, etc. that I decided maybe I should take a lesson from Kristen and start a blog.
Mine will not be a pretty or colorful as most I am sure. I'm already a little confused on how to set all of this up, but I am excited I get to share with everyone what's been going on and what's about to be happening in the our Wakefield lives. :) I love to talk and write so this may be a bad idea, but we will just have to find out later.
Be on the look out. I have a lot to tell about the first 9 months of our married lives together. I will be posting that later this week.

Everyone enjoy the first day of September!! I'm am so thrilled fall is almost here!!