Cooley Family Reunion

This past weekend Eric and I traveled to South Carolina to meet up with 35 members of the Cooley Family. This reunion was started many many many years ago when my GREAT grandparents still lived on Little Blue Pond, outside of Panama City, FL. Their kids would bring their kids of a weekend of swimming, fish frying, and watermelon. As the family grew, the reunion grew. In the late 90's, Granddaddy passed on to his Heavenly home and the reunion was moved. For the past few years, we met in various locations depending on which family decided to host that year. My uncle and aunt in South Carolina decided to host the reunion this year, so we made the 8 hour drive south.

If there is one thing the Cooley's do well, it's EAT! And eat we did. Fried chicken. Mashed potatoes. Cornbread. Pound cake. And, of course, S'MORES! Then we sit around and catch up on everyone's lives from the past year. It's such a precious time that our family can share.

John and Mavis Cooley Family, to include 6 great-grandsons

My cousin's brand new baby! So sweet

The best grandparents ever. So blessed to have them.

PopPopPop and Ethan showing off their artistic skills

Precious times

My family!

Up from the grave he arose!

"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."

Matthew 28:1-6

This is what Easter is all about. Sure the eggs, the bunny, and the candy are all fun, but the sole purpose of Easter is to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus. And I am so glad that He arose to conquer death so that we all have the opportunity to live eternally with Him!

This is the first Easter that Eric and I have spent away from our parents, so it was a very different day-yet familiar- day than what we are used to having. The church that we have been visiting has an Easter sunrise service at the Lincoln Memorial, so we headed down to DC bright...errrr...dark and early for the service. This was a really neat experience to worship in such a public arena in our nations capital. We estimated that there were between 3,000-4,000 people there. Next year we will get their earlier!


In typical fashion, the Easter bunny comes while we are at church. He brought some great goodies this year!

The Pearce Family gathers at my great-uncle and aunt's house on Easter. This is the first year that I have gone (since they live in Maryland and until now I lived in Alabama). It was such a great time to get to see my uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents. UL and AN live in ACRES and ACRES of beautiful wooded land so there is all kinds of room for fun.

The lunch feast!

No trip to UL's is complete without a tractor ride

My cousins, Brian and Jake

One of my most favorite people in the ENTIRE world, Aunt Shelley!

Cousin expansion-Eric and Melanie

Happy Easter from the Pearce/Burnside Family!

Happy Birthday Daisy!

Yesterday was Daisy's 3rd birthday! And while I know it's silly...we celebrated. I have become "that pet mom" that bakes birthday cakes for her dog. It was actually really fun! I look for any excuse to use my stand mixer :)

Daisy is a fun dog. We got her right after we came back from Myrtle Beach when we got engaged. Eric and I pulled up to the Hildebrand's and out ran these two golden retrievers. Buddy (Eric's parent's dog) and this other little golden. Eric's mom exclaimed "Happy Engagement! This is Daisy!"

The Hildebrand's neighbors knew that their daughter, Kaitlin, had been looking for a golden (she got another puppy while back, no longer needing the golden) so when their daughter was moving into a new place that would not allow dogs, they called to see if she wanted Daisy. Since Kaitlin already had a dog, we jumped at the opportunity to own this little cutie. And that's how we got Daisy!

Our first time meeting Daisy

So now our girl is 3! I found this great recipe for a dog birthday cake (quit rolling your eyes, I know it's excessive) and the dogs LOVED IT! Each piece was gone in 5 seconds.
So here's the recipe:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup soft butter
½ cup corn oil
1 jar baby food (I used apple)
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 8x5x3 inch loaf pan. Cream butter until smooth. Add corn oil, baby food, and eggs. Mix until smooth. Mix dry ingredients into mixture until batter is smooth. Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes. cool on wire rack 15 minutes. Ice with plain yogurt. Refrigerator left over servings.

The Duke of Hildebrand

Eric and I love animals, which is why we have a dog and a cat. Bella and Daisy are great. They add a great dynamic to our little family and we love them. But we had noticed that Daisy was really sad all the time. She had been living with Eric's parents, who have another golden retriever she was used playing with. Now we took her away from him and she was lonely. So Eric and I had discussed getting another dog at some juncture.

So one day while browsing the classifieds in the Washington Post, we came across the pets section. It's always fun to see the puppies for sale and think about what kind you may like. That day in the paper we saw the sweetest little faces! A little of Miniature American Eskimo puppies. I thought Eric was going to cry when we saw them. He has always had this obsession with Eskies...not quite sure where that came from.

So after a discussion about puppies, and training, and all the logistics, we called the number to get some more information.

The next day we went to check out the litter.

And that's when we fell in love.

Out of this litter of six, there was one little puppy off to the side, playing with a leaf, unconcerned with the other five and their jumping and barking. We had decided that we wanted a boy since Daisy sometimes has some issues with other female dogs. When we called we were told there was one male in the litter. So we started picking up puppies trying to find the male. After going through all the spastic puppies, we found they were all females. The little one off to the side with the leaf was our little boy. Eric scooped him up and he fell asleep in his arms. Love at first sight.

The drive home

Duke is such a fun little addition. I have never had a puppy that had to be house trained, so this a new world to me. Duke is an endless bundle of energy, until he drops suddenly into a nap. He is Daisy's shadow, whether she likes it or not.
This dog has no lack of personality. He jumps, runs, plays, snuggles, barks,and pees on the carpet. After than minute is over, it starts all over again.

We love him.

Movin' on up

On December 29, 2010, Eric and I struck out on our own. Just us...and the furry babies. That was the day we moved to Northern Virginia. After a 10 hour drive (each driving separately since we had to move two cars) we FINALLY reached Sterling! For those of you wondering where Sterling is, it's 30 miles northwest of Washington, DC.
When we got here, Eric's new office had arranged temporary housing for us. What started out as a nice little hotel became our nightmare. Two people, a dog, and a cat, all sharing a hotel room. Fun...not! But we knew we would move into our apartment in February!

Shortly after arriving, Eric started his new job as a Design Engineer with M.C. Dean. He works on large construction projects designing electrical systems.
So Eric went to work and I did NOTHING! That was the longest week of my live waiting to start my job. I did make the trip to Baltimore to see my aunt and her family. If ever there was a busy mom, Karen is just that! Mother of 6 kids...and doing it with unconditional love in Christ's image. She's such an inspiration!

Two of the girls

The newest (big) little one

I started my job the week after Eric. I love being in the ER. It's stressful at times, but what job isn't. I really like getting to see a variety of cases and helping people get better. My co-workers are great and very patient. I have already learned so much!

My first day. I spend a week in hospital orientation before starting on the unit.

So that was our first 6 weeks in Virginia. We started new jobs, got adjusted to the area, and saw some snow. Welcome to NOVA!

Hildebrand happenings

Seeing as how it has been since October that I have updated, there is quite a bit to discuss!

We got married! November 20, 2010 was the most beautiful, hectic, wonderful, stressful, exciting, overwhelming, amazing day! I married the love of my life and became the happiest woman in the world. Everything went perfectly. I even held off crying until after the ceremony! After 5 years, one month, and 20 days of being together, we are finally man and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Hildebrand. You can see some of our wedding photos here. Keep checking back for more as the photographer adds them!

After the wedding, we spent a week in Aruba! This is exactly what everyone should do at some point in their lives. It is the most beautiful island and the most relaxing atmosphere. It was hard to come back to "real life". While we were there we went ocean kayaking, snorkeling, ate at some wonderful restaurants, and did some MAJOR relaxing! I have TONS of pictures posted on facebook.

Three weeks after getting married, Eric graduated from Auburn. He now holds his Bachelor's of Science in Electrical Engineering, Magna Cum Laude (Go ERIC!).

Finally, we are closing in on our move to Virginia! December 29th is the big move day. We have spent a few days in the area looking for a place to live. And did we find a place! This is our new, gorgeous, apartment! We have the entire upstairs of the building. Garage #2 is attached to our apartment.
I had been talking with the Emergency Room Director at a hospital in the area. She had called me and done a preliminary interview over the phone in November. While we were here I went in for an interview. After speaking with the ER director, she invited me back the next day to meet with the assistant director/nurse educator for the ER. Also, I would be interviewed by some of the nurses in the ER. All of these people were very nice and interesting to meet. I learned a lot about the department and what type of patients to expect. After the final interview with the nurses I was excused so they could discuss my fate as a nurse in their ER. It didn't take them long. Put best by the nurse educator: "They dig ya. Welcome to the department!" I HAVE A JOB!!!!

So in summary: we got married, we went to Aruba, Eric graduated, we have a place to live, I have a job! How's that for a whirlwind?

Fall happenings

Well, it has been quite a while since I have posted. Luckily, not much has happened. Here is a quick run-down.

The wedding is come together nicely. It's 20 days away!!!

As a soon-to-be family, we dressed up for halloween. Farmer Eric with his prized pumpkins, and ladybug.


The most exciting news is Eric's new job!!! He will be working as an electrical engineer for a company in Sterling, Virgina! So....we are MOVING! We are both excited/nervous/anxious/thankful. This is going to be such a great opportunity for us to grow together as newlyweds. Please keep us in your prayers as we make this journey.