Just A Few Special Young Ladies

While teaching at PCA I had the opportunity to meet some great young ladies. They will be graduating in just a few weeks and heading off to college and I am so proud of them. This post is a shout out to some great girls.....

Emily (aka Professor), Brittany, Courtney and Kendra. They came to visit me in Dallas for lunch one day.
Katie and I after the Junior/Senior Powder Puff Game.

MAVS Magic

A few weeks ago Daniel and I had the opportunity to go to see the Dallas Mavericks play the Milwaukee Bucks. We had amazing seats thanks to my wonderful father-in-law. In Daniel's words, "you could smell them sweat!" It was a very close game and the Mavs won in the last 12 seconds. Here are some pictures from the game. Please excuse the blurry ones, but there was a lot of movement on the court and you are not allowed to use a flash during the game.

Warming up for the game
Tipoff
Dirk making a free throw
Jason Terry and Eric Dampier
I love this picture. This is of the big screen in the stadium. Jason Terry is in full celebratory mode as the Mavs beat the Bucks 105-103.

It Is Finished!

My thesis that is. For the past twelve months I have been laboring to complete my thesis on Jonathan Edwards, an eighteenth century colonial pastor and theologian in New England. I turned in my "final" draft on Monday. I ended with far more than I bargained for with this paper.
















Anna Jean is the lady in the Registrars office who diligently handles all the theses at DTS. Gloria took my picture with her on V-Day.





I purchased this t-shirt from the Jonathan Edwards Center, the Mecca of all things Edwards. http://edwards.yale.edu

Springtime

Spring has finally made it's way to Texas!

Daniel and I took a class a few weekends ago at DTS. We took this picture on the campus during our lunch break. The tulips were gorgeous!

This is a blossom from our lemon tree. It is covered with them right now and they smell heavenly! I love all the spring flowers!

Favorite Kiddos

Here are some recent pictures of my favorite kiddos. I love my niece and nephew so very much! Hunter will be turning three on Easter and Kylee will be five in May. They are getting so big.

Sweet Siblings! Looking at this picture you would never know Hunter is two years younger than Kylee.

Can you tell I am a ham? Check out those curls.

All worn out after a day at Na-Na and Papa's house

Isn't it amazing how children can sleep in the most unnatural positions?

Pomp and Circumstance

Ok, so I am a lousy blogger. I spend so much time reading other peoples blogs that I do not have enough time to post on our own blog. However, to be real honest, there is just not that much going on in our lives right now. Daniel is focused on graduation day (as am I)! He is working diligently to finish up for the semester. The final draft of his thesis is due in less than two weeks and boy will we be happy to see it completed. Daniel has worked really hard on his thesis and I have had the privilege of proofing it numerous times. We will both be so relieved when this semester is over and Daniel has completed his seminary degree.

My trip to SC was GREAT! I had a blast hanging out with Meredith. Unfortunately, I only took two pictures the entire time I was there... one of Mere's cat and one of Heather and Makayla. I have yet to download them so they will not be accompanying this post. It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city and have some girl time!

We have heard back from the PhD programs that Daniel had applied to and it seems that God has a little different plan for us. We will be staying in TX, at least for now. We were disappointed at first, but have gradually become thankful for the break we will have from the world of academia. We trust that God knows what is best for us and are looking forward to seeing where and how He leads us.

And just for fun here is a picture taken on our honeymoon!

Carolina On My Mind

February flew by for the Cooley Clan and March is well under way. Daniel's graduation date is quickly approaching and we are both looking forward to that day. Still no word from PhD programs, but hopefully we will hear in the next few weeks.

Daniel and I are about to spend our first night away from one another since we got married. I am traveling to South Carolina on Thursday morning to spend the weekend with my precious friend Meredith. I am so excited! We will also be getting together with our friend Heather and her sweet little one Makayla. I will post pictures upon my return.

Professor Cooley

Daniel is teaching a class this semester at DTS for the Center for Biblical Studies. I had the opportunity to go and hear him teach on Tuesday evening. He did such a good job and I am so proud of him!

I just had to brag on him!

Nothing

It has been a long time since either Daniel or I have posted. There really has not been too much going on in our world. I turned thirty last month and enjoyed spending my birthday with my sweet husband. He gave me tickets to a Chris Tomlin concert (which unfortunately we did not get to enjoy thanks to a nasty upper respiratory infection that left me confined to the couch for three days), a dvd, and some stationary. He also took me to a fabulous dinner of crab cakes, mushroom and lobster bisque, prime rib and strawberry trifle at Lawry's.
Daniel is in the midst of his final semester at DTS and we are anxiously awaiting news from the PhD programs he has applied to. We have applied to Notre Dame, UNC Chapel Hill, and Florida State University. Check back soon to find out where we will be headed next!

This picture was from December 23, 2006 at the Dallas Stars Game.

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!