Goodbye 20's

In just a few days I will be saying good-bye to the land of twenty-something and hello to the wide open spaces of the thirties. A decade ago as I was encroaching on the twenties if you would have asked me what I would be doing or where I would be at thirty, my answer would not have been an accurate depiction of life today. I never thought that in the past ten years I would have traveled to China, Japan, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, Spain, England, Hungary, Romania, Guatemala, and Mexico. I also would not have thought they I would have spent almost two years living in Hawaii. Nor did I think I would be married and living in Dallas, TX. But here I am....married to a wonderful man, a world traveler, and enjoying life to the fullest.

In celebration of my crossing into a new decade of life I have a new look. Bring it on 30!

Barefoot

I love being barefoot in the summer. As a child I would play outdoors for hours upon hours during the summer and rarely wore shoes, unless I was playing soccer or some other sport which required me to protect my little piggies! As an adult I still enjoy being barefoot. However, I really love being able to put on a soft, warm pair of socks. What does this have to do with anything? A lot!

Last Saturday I joined some of my friends at the Buckner warehouse where we sorted hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of socks that will soon be sent all over the world. These socks will then be given to orphans along with a pair of shoes. It doesn't sound like a glamorous job, sorting socks by size and gender, but it is a job full of blessings.

I have been lucky enough to be a part of the full Buckner experience. I have taken part in a shoe drive, helped at a collection site, sorted shoes, sorted socks, packed boxes, and had the amazing privilege of kneeling down before a precious child and carefully putting a new, clean pair of socks on their feet and a brand new pair of shoes. It is a humbling experience.

Here are a few pictures from our sock sorting Saturday!

Here are the ladies sorting the socks. Krista, Julie, Lauren, Teresa, Alana and Jennifer.
Krista adding more socks to the women 's sock box
Jennifer and Lauren just finished packing a box of women's socks!
Julie packing a box of girl's socks. Now what number was I on?
Socks, socks and more socks! Here are just a few of the boxes of socks we packed that morning.

Christmas Memories

Here are a few pictures taken on Christmas.

Daniel and I on Christmas eve in our new pj's.

Daniel bought me the new Chris Tomlin CD. He taped it to the bottom of this big box and put one of our tools in there so it would make a lot of noise so I could not guess what it was.

I bought Daniel the new David Crowder CD and wrapped it in a Hamburger Helper box so he couldn't guess what it was.

Christmas in the Caribbean

Well, two cruises in six months... I doubt we will be able to maintain this pace, but we'll enjoy it while it lasts. The week before Christmas we went on a cruise that left from Galveston and headed to Cozumel and Costa Maya with my parents, my sister and one of her friends. Our ship for the five day cruise was called The Splendour of the Seas. We laid by the pool, went to the beach, and snorkeled while all our friends were doing their last minute Christmas shopping. It was definitely a trip to remember. One funny thing that happened was that we had the same cruise director from our last cruise in June on the Adventure of the Seas as well as one of the entertainers. Here are a few pictures from the Cooley Christmas Trip to the Caribbean.

Muster drill
Cozumel, Mexico

Service project in Cozumel. While we were waiting for our excursion to depart Gloria practiced her Spanish and helped these guys paint the wall.

As we walked the streets of Cozumel we came across a group performing traditional folk dances.
Beth and her friend Casey had their picture taken with these guys later in the day.
Beautiful Costa Maya
The Cooleys
Wayne, Beth, Marty, Gloria and Daniel

Sunday Night At The Gaylord

Daniel and Trey hanging out with the Longhorn. Shhhh...don't tell Trey's family...he is a Texas Aggie!

The ladies......from left to right, back row: Kathy and Jenn, front row: Me, Shelly and Kelly.

Rick and Jenn

Woody and Kathy

Trey and Shelly

Me and my sweetie!

This past Sunday, Daniel and I, along with our LifeGroup headed to the Gaylord Texan Resort to visit the ICE! Exhibit. The exhibit is a 14,000 square foot structure, kept at 9 degrees, filled with two million pounds of hand-carved ICE! It was so neat! We walked across an ice bridge, slid down an ice slide and walked through a beautiful Winter Wonderland. Afterwards, we spent some time exploring the hotel and taking pictures!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Last Wednesday night Daniel and I purchased our first Christmas tree. We decided to get a real tree this year to avoid the hassle of trying to store or move an artificial tree. So, after work on Wed. we headed to the garden center at Walmart to look for our tree. A cold front was moving in and in the amount of time it took us to purchase our tree, tree stand and tree skirt the temperature had dropped a good twenty degrees. We had to head to Daniel's parents to use a saw to cut the bottom of the tree before placing it in the stand. On our way home the temperature continued to drop. By the time we reached home the wind had increased, the temperature had dropped another ten degrees and while we were trying to put the tree in the stand it began to rain. What an adventure! We eventually got the tree in the stand and in the apartment. And now...it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Thankful for Turkey Day

Picture #1- Uncle Daniel sharing a sweet moment with Kylee and Hunter.


Daniel and I traveled to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with my family. We had such a great time. The house was overflowing with people and food...which makes for a great holiday. My oldest brother Bill came with my niece and nephew (Kylee and Hunter), my Aunt Pat and Uncle Marty were there as well as their daughter Diane and her boyfriend Richie, my Aunt Gloria stayed a few days with us and my stepfather's cousin from Chicago, Roberta, spent a few days with us as well. Of course mom and Jim were there and it was good to spend time with them. Daniel and I are thankful for our families.
Picture #2- all worn out from a day on the playground.
Picture #3- Me and My Aunt Gloria.















Pictures 4 & 5- Just some cute kids!

Smores and More

A couple weekends ago Daniel and I went camping with two other couples from our LifeGroup. We set up camp in Mineral Wells State Park. It was beautiful but COLD! Woody and Kathy, the leaders of our LifeGroup, along with Trey and Shelly headed out to Mineral Wells a little earlier than Daniel and I. Daniel and I arrived a little after dark, to find our tent pitched and a fire ready to cook our dinner.


We had a delicious dinner of grilled chicken, baked potatoes, fresh bread and campfire beans. After dinner we gathered around the fire, to try and stay warm, and roasted marshmallows, ate smores and drank hot chocolate.
It was a cold night...the temperature dropped to the low 40's, but Daniel and I were warm for most of the night in our sleeping bags.


Saturday morning Daniel and I woke up early and joined Woody sitting by the fire. Once the rest of the group was up we enjoyed a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and tortillas as well as cowboy coffee (coffee made in a sock). After breakfast we cleaned up, broke camp, and spent some time hiking around the park. It was a beautiful day and truly a great trip.

Date Night!

Last week Gloria and I decided we needed to have a date night. We had a a jar full of change that we decided to take to CoinStar at Tom Thumb and use it to pay for dinner that night. Gloria suggested that we go to Houston's, and we had a great dinner that night. Gloria ordered crab cakes and I had barbecue pork ribs. Gloria and I had a lot of fun that night... as usual.

One Cute Kid

This is such a great picture of my nephew, Hunter Thomas! He is going to have all the girls chasing him with those big blue eyes! They just better not try and take his ice cream away from him!

A Third of a Year

I can hardly believe that four months ago today, Daniel and I became husband and wife. It has been a fantastic journey thus far. We love doing the ordinary every day things of life together including our daily after dinner snack of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and Hot Fudge!

Some of my favorite times with Daniel are the times we share together at our dining room table. Each morning, with the exception of Wednesdays, we have breakfast together, three days out of the week we are able to have lunch together, and each evening we sit down to eat dinner together. Those times are filled with great conversation and on most occasions laughter. I love cooking for Daniel and he loves eating!

I know this is a random post, but I could not help but mention that today is our four month wedding anniversary and I love being married to Daniel!

Wide Awake!

Well, it is 3am and I am wide awake. Rather than continuing to toss and turn and disrupt Daniel's sleep, I am in the office reading other people's blogs and trying to figure out why I am not asleep. There is not much to do at 3am as there is not really anything worth watching on basic cable and although I am not tired, I cannot focus to read. Hmmm....

Daniel and I had a busy weekend this past weekend. Friday evening we joined a group of friends in celebrating our friend John Berry's birthday at Pappadeaux's. Saturday morning we had an early start as Daniel took the GRE and I met up with some friends to shop for a baby shower we are hosting. Saturday afternoon Daniel and I watched the Texas/OU Game. Hook 'em Horns! Saturday evening we drove out to Prosper, TX to attend a wedding shower in honor of our friends Sarah and Allon. We will be headed to Shreveport, LA in a few weeks to attend their wedding. Sunday morning, Daniel and I had a mini-date as we spent a little time at Starbuck's on our way to church. Then off to church we went for a good time of worship and fellowship. Sunday afternoon was filled with Daniel attending a meeting and I ran errands. Finally about 5pm we both were home and it was time for laundry and dinner.

All in all we had a great weekend. I was a little tired yesterday morning when that little annoying thing called an alarm clock went off, but it was worth it!

Well, perhaps I will attempt to catch some zzzzz's before it is time to start another day!

An Eschatological Perspective

Well as some of you know this school year will be my last … I hope at DTS. As this realization sets in I am experiencing a couple of somewhat divergent emotions: the satisfaction of completing a long and challenging task and the fear associated with not knowing what or where the next task will be.
The title in case you are wondering is sort of a double meaning. Eschatology refers to the study "last things" or "end times" in theology, and my thoughts are often focused on the end of this road at seminary. It seems that it is human nature to look for completion and finality in life, and I suppose graduation represents that sort of thing. I also see that the end is simply a new beginning with new uncertainties for Gloria and I. As I reflect on this I realize that the real final and completing event that I ought to always be yearning for is the blessed hope of the return of Christ (Tit 2:13). Only his return will bring the final completion that human nature is looking for and release from an uncertain world.

A Beautiful Fall Afternoon and My Handsome Husband

Today was just an absolutely gorgeous day! It was in the low 80's with clear skies and plenty of sunshine. Daniel and I opened the windows of our apartment and enjoyed the cool air and the anticipation of Fall. We have a great little balcony on our apartment where we have enjoyed dinner several evenings this past week. Sweet times! Daniel spent a good part of the afternoon outside reading.

Isn't he cute? Check out his new look... what do you think?

Friday Afternoon at the Depot

I have recently started working for an auto insurance company. I am assistant to the VP of claims and so far I really like my job. This past Friday afternoon around 4:15pm the natives became a little restless as we began to dream of the upcoming weekend and time away from the Depot. I ran out to the car and grabbed the digital camera....and this is what ensued....

A typical afternoon in Dallas. Here we have traffic going both northbound and southbound. Notice the ice cream man pushing his cart in the middle.

Because very few people drive the speed limit around here, the poor ice cream guy did not make it very far before being hit by one of Dallas' many crazy drivers.

Unfortunately, the ice cream man was seriously injured while everyone else had minor damages to their vehicles.
Tip for the day: ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEATBELT! And... don't become and ice cream man!

From the Cooley Kitchen

I thought it would be fun to every now and then post a recipe on our blog. Daniel has enjoyed bragging about my culinary experimentation and I thought some of you may want to try some of the recipes I have been experimenting with.

A friend of ours created a cookbook for Daniel and I as a wedding present. She compiled recipes from our families and friends. I have truly enjoyed trying these recipes out on Daniel.


One of our new favorites is Tortellini with Cherry Tomatoes and Corn.




The ingredients you will need:
1 (9oz) pkg. fresh cheese tortellini, uncooked
1 (10oz) pkg. frozen whole kernel corn
1 clove of garlic, halved
2 cups quartered cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 Tbl. grated parmesean cheese
1 tsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. pepper



Instructions: Cook tortellini in boiling water for 3 minutes, omitting salt and fat. Add corn, and cook 3 additional minutes, drain well.
Rub the inside of a large serving bowl with garlic halves, and then discard the halves. Add tortellini mixture, tomatoes, and remaining ingredients. Toss gently to coat.

Bon Appetit!

Precious Little Ones!

Ok, so any one who knows me knows I love to brag about my precious niece and nephew. They are just so sweet and bring such joy to our family. Here are a couple of pictures of Kylee and Hunter in their new bunkbeds. Are they not some of the cutest kids you have ever seen?

My Wife, the chef

My wife has been dazzling me with her culinary delights. She cooks dinner almost every night. I have some pics from a night when she baked salmon in a lemon butter sauce with some garlic, green peppers, mushrooms and rice. It was really good.... mmmmmm

Jonathan Edwards and John Piper

There is a lot of reading going on in our house these days. Daniel is in the midst of working on his thesis. He is writing on the relevance of Edwards' epistemology for postmodernism. For those of you who are thinking "what the crack?", epistemology is the study of the forms, sources and methods of knowledge and postmodernism is in part the rejection/skepticism of static, timeless, universal knowledge. Some of you may still be thinking "what the crack?" and that's ok. I spend about 75% of the time asking the same question.

Edwards is an interesting individual and comes from an even more interesting family. Here is a quote from Marsden's book, Jonathan Edwards: A Life, " Jonathan Edwards is sometimes criticized for having too dim a view of human nature, but it may be helpful to be reminded that his grandmother was an incorrigible profligate, his great-aunt committed infanticide, and his great-uncle was an axe murderer." Who would have ever thought one of America's finest philosophers and preachers would come from such a background.

This afternoon Daniel and I strolled around Barnes and Noble and Borders looking for Marsden's book and perusing the shelves. I came across a book by John Piper, The Purifying Power of Living by Faith in Future Grace. Being the Piper fans that we are, we decided to purchase Piper's book. Interestingly enough, the final chapter of Piper's book is entitled, The Debt I Owe to Jonathan Edwards.

Piper is well known for the premise of his writings, "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him. " I believe if Edwards were alive today he would shout out a hearty AMEN.

I have only read one of two introductions to Piper's book this afternoon, but it has already left me with some theological "cud" to chew on. Conversations around the Cooley household in the days to come could prove to be interesting with all this reading going on.